The Best Gift
Having been raised up in Cuba, a poor country a pet is a luxury not everyone can afford. As a child who comes from a not well of family my parents were more focused on providing me and my brother with basic needs such as ensuring we had a roof over our heads every day, food was provided to us and we got the best education. Having watched children movies as I was growing up, I always desired to have a pet as the children in the movies did. Finally, one day when I was twelve my parents came home with a puppy and gifted it to me, it was no special occasion but they always saw my desire to own a pet and finally they wanted to fulfill that desire for me. I named the pet John after my favorite cartoon character, Johnny Bravo.
This pet fulfilled my deepest desires of childhood. It got to the point where I wanted to take John with me to school and everywhere I went although that proved to be impossible. John became my greatest companion since he was always around me when I was away from school, the only place I could not go with him. When ever my mother took me to the park to play when she had time, we took John with us. I made sure that I feed him in the morning before I left for school and fed him in the evening the exact same time, I took my supper. Most of the times he slept next to me on my bed but my mum always encouraged that I let him sleep on the beautiful, mat my she had gotten for him.
John was like a best friend to me and whenever my mum was mad at me I would lock myself in my room and cry and often when I opened the door to leave my room I would find John waiting for me on the door way, after opening the door he would snuggle close to my feet licking them which I believe was an expression of his love for me. I made sure that I took him for a walk around our neighborhood as often as possible to ensure that he would never get lost in the neighborhood in case he left our compound. Whenever me and my brother were playing football, we would make sure that John was part of the game.
John being a dog he was not be able to play Tv games with me therefore, I made sure that I set time aside to watch Tv with him over the weekends and he became a Johnny Bravo fan also. I took him with me on all the holidays that followed after his arrival despite my mother’s plea that I should leave him with our neighbors but I never agreed to leave him behind. He appears in mostly of our family photos. I remember one time he came home with a bruised limb and for a moment I thought he was going to dies but the vet assured me that it was a minor bruise and he will heal eventually and be able to walk on all four again. Up to today I believe that John symbolized how my parents loved me and to show me that they were willing to do their best for my happiness they got me the puppy I so much desired.
