I’ve been looking at this blank page for a while now... Three days actually. A possession or article of clothing that describes me. The odd part is I couldn’t find any one thing that describes me, that is except my dog tags. Now these aren’t your traditional dog tags that have your name on them, and all the other stuff... No, these are different, they are real dog tags. They’re from my dog I had since I was about three months old.

My dog was a mutt, a mix of a few or several breeds. Nobody was sure what kind of dog she was. She was found in a parking lot late one night and taken to the pound where I got her. Since I was young, I don’t remember how we ended up leaving with that puppy, but she was one of the prettiest dogs you have ever seen.

She had red fur like an Irish Setter, but it was short, and in the summer would get lighter and grew darker in the winter. Soft brown eyes and cute black nose, floppy ears and a tail that was always wagging from side to side. But, I loved this little outside puppy that grew up with me and became a protective, fun loving, medium sized dog. The most important thing of all was the bond that was friendship between us: a girl and a dog.

My dog personally means something to me also. My dog was always mine, when my brothers were born I would get mad and upset if they said she was their dog. She was always my dog and had been since we got her. Although I must give credit to my dad for naming her, Sable. Sable was what I believe started my love for dogs, or any animal for that matter. I also found the more time I spent with Sable, the more I came to like the outdoors. As I grew older, close to the age of ten, I also began having dreams of being a veterinarian.

I think that my dog tags describe not only the fun loving relationship between us but me as a person and individual. I think by wearing them it’s a memory, like someone wearing dog tag from a family member they had in the army. But it describes me because I put out the story, of her, and us. I also don’t have many secrets that I keep about myself. I will tell someone what they want to know and speak my mind. I will admit it’s not always a good thing, but more or less a part of who I am.

People probably don’t see them like that. I mean when I see two bent and scratched up dog tags hanging from someones neck, the first thing I would think is not that it had a backstory or meant something to them. Some people probably see my dog tags as tacky, worthless. Others who know the story may think they are cool, interesting, different. Some want to know the story behind them others couldn’t care less. My dog tags are a representation of the fact that looks are deceiving.

My dog tags are memories of my dog. The reason I say memories is because she passed away when I was in seventh grade. Now writing this two years later, for an assignment in my creative writing class. When my dog died I thought of it as a sad thing, one of the saddest days of my life. Now a freshman in high school, I understand worse things can happen. I have a new best friend, a human best friend, and learning the ropes of high school.

I use the dog tags as a representation to me too. Of course looks are deceiving but also to show that you can look at a possession of someone elses and think it is stupid, worthless or tacky. The object you're looking at can have a large sentimental value to the owner. So my dog tags represent many things to me, but to any other person that doesn’t know the story, my dog tags hanging from my neck may mean nothing and create a judgemental factor. But I guess I don’t care about what everyone thinks, because they have a true meaning to me.