By Jonathan Caamal, Staff Writer
Having a pet can always bring joy to you and your family, but it can also be saddening. Throughout my entire life, I’ve had multiple pets, many mainly being pet fish. I always got attached to them but they were not nearly as impactful on my life as when I got my first dog; everything changed when she arrived
I was having a rough start to the beginning of my 7th grade, I had bad grades, and was also dealing with personal issues. One afternoon my mom came and picked me up early from school because she wanted to show me something. At the time I was also playing soccer so I thought it was a new pair of cleats. I was completely wrong. We arrived home and I saw a small little animal sitting on our couch. To me, she was the cutest thing ever.
We decided to name her ‘Ohana’, which means “family” in Hawaiian, but to be honest, we didn’t know what the meaning of her name was until she was about 5 months old. I remember the time when I wasn’t feeling at my best and she would always come to comfort me and be there for me. A time when this happened was when one of my little brothers had been hospitalized due to him falling and cracking his head and I was scared.
During all that was happening, I had to take care of Ohana while my parents were at the hospital with my brother, I was anxious and nervous, but Ohana was there to calm me down. She would bring her toy over so I could play with her, and she would make me get my head off the situation that was going on. Moments like that are memorable because she showed me that a pet can be there for you, especially when you least expect it.
Ohana didn’t cause any problems, but something that was a problem for us was the owner of our apartment finding out that we had a dog. In our apartment, there was a set rule that we weren’t allowed to have any type of pet. We kept Ohana a secret for two years until the owner heard barking coming from our apartment. Later that day the owner came to our place to talk with my parents and delivered the bad news, we either get rid of her or find a new place. We decided to move out. We moved to Richmond where everything was good with Ohana, it was a spacious place for her and it was also a space where she could feel at home, with tons of playtime and a lot of bonding with her.
After two years though we ended up moving back to San Francisco because Richmond wasn’t the place we thought it was. Moving to San Francisco was hard because it meant we had to give Ohana away since most of the places we found to live did not allow pets.
We gave Ohana away to one of my mom’s friends who currently lives in Sacramento. Giving her away was one of the hardest things we had to do as a family, we got so attached to her it was almost impossible to not show emotion. It was hard, especially for me to let her go because she had helped me get through a lot of things, and knowing that she wasn’t going to be around anymore hurt. It hurt because it felt like a part of my family was being taken away, but there was nothing I could do. All that stays with me are the memories we made.
Even though it’s been about 3 years since I last saw Ohana, it still feels like I was with her yesterday. Recently, I thought about her and wondered how she was doing, & not too long ago, I passed by my old house where Ohana and I interacted for the first time. It was memorable.
I do think that giving her away has affected me in a way. There was a time when my mom suggested we should get another dog, and I did not want to go through with it, nor did my brothers. I just don’t think that it was necessary because it was still recent. Now in high school about to graduate, I wish she could’ve been here with me to see what I’ve accomplished and I wish I could’ve seen her grow even more, but the memories we had will stick with me forever.
