I will always remember my dog, Tootsie, fondly. The first night that we had her, she woke me up in the middle of the night. I should have been upset, but as I sat and held her, I knew that she would be an important part of my life. She was always there when I was growing up, happy to see me and ready to play with her stuffed baseball. She was there at family events like Christmas and Thanksgiving, brightening up people’s holidays. The day that she died, my whole family was upset and it took many weeks for us to get over it. Tootsie was a great dog and was more than a pet to me when I was growing up.