Summary

In this piece, Viktoria Lamley speaks about the importance of companionship to your everyday happiness. What she learned after an important experience with her pup, and how it sparked her to take a deeper look into things.

I believe that having a companion is crucial to your overall happiness.

Why though? Why does not being surrounded by people matter so much, or why does it matter if you have a pet or something? Let me explain it to you then. I”ll keep it simple, I have three main reasons for why I think that having someone or something there for you is important. One, you'll never be alone. Two, you'll always have someone you can lean on or who will support you. Thirdly, it helps show what type of person you will become in the future and how you interact with others.

My mom and I decided to adopt a dog for our joint birthday present last year. We named her Luna, after Luna Lovegood and for the moon. It seemed fitting with her ditzy personality, and pale fur. She's a white fluffy ball of spastic energy. She's got floppy ears, huge webbed paws, and a nose that smells food before you've even thought of getting it. She also has a knack for finding herself in trouble, or more fittingly, the doghouse.

Let me elaborate on how such a small dog could hold so much mischief in her little body. Lunas quick, it's almost like a ghost. She never seems to be there with you, but you know your never alone with her around, she's always one step ahead or behind you. One second she was sitting right next to you, the next she's staring at you from the living room chewing on your napkin she just stole. You have to be on full alert 24/7 with that dog. Her little body has dealt with so many many things passing through its stomach that should not be there. Plastic, paper, several napkins, sticks, and even blankets. One of the worst instances happened recently back in May, she got a knife. Now don’t panic yet, the little stinker is perfectly fine, she didn't even cut herself. But the experience made me realise something. As I sat of the floor cradling this little dog as I ugly sobbed, it hit me, what would I do without her? If something had happened, if she had gotten hurt, what would I have done? This little pup loved me so much. I was her whole life, and she was only a portion of mine. Whenever i'm sad or upset, she's always there to wiggle in my arms, and let me talk, even if she can’t respond, I know she's listening to me. And that's reassuring, no matter what happens or what I do, she’ll always be right next to me, ready to steal my napkin and race around the house.

Moving on to my second point, that with a companion you’ll always have someone to act as your security blanket. Someone there to support you when you need help, someone to vent to, and you can be happy with. And this differs for everyone. You could have friends, pets, family, or whatever but you should have someone. I personally think of my mom as being that person for me, or maybe even Luna.

In Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake you follow the lives of three sisters destined for the throne. But in order for one to get it, they would have to kill their other sisters. Pretty sick stuff huh? But in it you alo follow the lives of those around them. I’m thinking of the relationship between queen Arsinoe and her protector/ friend Jules. In the book you follow their friendship, and the struggles they face, but it's always together. When one has a problem, the other is always right there to help them. From Arsinoes drama with her sisters, and her gift not showing up, to Jules boy problems the girls have a lot to deal with. But they'll always have each other to help.

Which goes along with my third, and final point. The friends and relationships you have as a child, help determine the type of person you become as an adult later in life. How you were raised as a kid and the people your around are crucial to how you develop. I always hear people talk about being surrounded by kids growing up, but that wasn’t the case for me. I had one friend, Annabelle. She lived eight houses and across the street from me. Which i feel explains why i was so shy and out of touch around other kids. I had no siblings, we only saw family on holidays, and I didn’t truly make multiple friends until I reached elementary.

Which brings me to the person I wanted to talk about, Junot Diaz. A little while back we watched American Creed, where he appeared in a short clips throughout the documentary. But there were two things he talked about that stuck with me after the film. The first being how he described his neighborhood growing up. Not speaking english well, and being surrounded by so many different ethnicities. “ I was Dominican my upstairs neighbor was african-american my best friend was Cuban but my other best friend was Egyptian. “(Diaz). He also spoke about the impact his librarian had made. In the clip he talked about how she helped encourage him to learn English and how she treated him the same as everyone else, as a equal. But he also talked about how she was determined to have someone who walked out of her library become a writer. Which I thought was super cool. Because it shows adults working to help create a better future for this little kid who could barely speck english, but they managed.

Maybe we all have a similar story, who knows? But I think it's something we should all strive for. Being able to say you helped someone be happier, and that your remembered as a good person and a great friend. And that we need to work better as a society to make sure that no one ever feels like they are all alone. This I believe.

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Royal Oak High School Lundy Language Arts

Angela Lundy's ELA 9 classes 2017-18.

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