I have had good experiences with dogs and bad experiences with dogs. When I was seven years old my neighbor and friend had a St. Bernard dog. It was huge!! It wasn’t very friendly. If the family was around, he was a nice dog. But when they weren’t around he was so scary. My girlfriend’s home was on the way home from the school bus. One day while walking home, the dog came running out. He didn’t leave the yard, because someone called to him when he started to run after me. I was terrified.

The next day, while walking home I was so scared to walk past the dog, that I went around back of their home and avoided the front altogether. It took a lot longer and well there was this issue with the stickers. The sticker weeds were high, and I was wearing my favorite tights. By the time I got home, they were ruined. I hid them, so my mom wouldn’t find them. I vowed that day, never to let something like that happen again.

I wish when I was a kid that I asked for help more. I don’t know why I didn’t tell my mom or let anyone know I was terrified.

I spend my days now with young children. It helps me to be a kind person, to remember how hard it is to be a child. How sometimes they don’t have words to tell how they feel. I hope I am observant and aware when they are sad.