Intellectual Exemplar

Well I was thinking about what I could write about and when I was looking through my pictures on my laptop I came across this picture of my dog. His name is Butch (no I did not give him that name) and my family adopted him from a shelter in New York the summer before my freshman year in high school. It's funny because at that time period, Butch and I were both about to embark on important transitions in our lives. This is where the story of how we came to adopt him comes about.
During August of the summer of 2005, my family decided to make a trip to Pennsylvania to celebrate my mother's birthday. On our way up there we ended up stopping in New York to visit my mom's sister. Keep in mind that my aunt has known that I had wanted a dog since I came out of the womb. Therefore, she took the initiative to search the animal shelters in her area to find a dog for me. The day before we were to leave Pennsylvania, she called my mom and told her that we had to stop in New York before we left. She had found this dog that she knew would be exactly what I wanted. When we got there, I saw this depressed looking half-Pitbull half-Labrador mix that I could just tell had been through a lot. It turns out that his previous owners were sort of mentally challenged and basically paid the cable guy $500 to bring him, his brother Cassidy (Yes, pun intended..Butch Cassidy..knee slapper) and a few cats to the shelter because they no longer wanted them. Just imagine being taken from the place you are used to and dropped in a shelter?
All in all, it seems as if Butch and I were destined to be united because coincidentally, he was scheduled to be moved to another shelter in New York City, but the van broke down before he could be transported. Then, as we finished signing the adoption papers, a lady who had recently visited the shelter walked through the door saying that she had changed her mind and wanted to adopt him. These occurrences solidified in my mind that Butch was meant to be mine. Through the years, he has come to be more than a pet to me. He has so many human characteristics that it isn't even funny. For instance, when he is sleeping, if there is a light shining above him, he will take his paw and cover his face and groan until it is turned off. Also, whenever my mom says my name to him when I am not around, she tells me that he begins pacing and "looking" for me. I know this post was supposed to be about someone academic who had influenced me, but I felt that showing how my pet has had a great influence on my life would suffice.