I received Sammy as a gift. When he was a puppy, Sammy, who was all of five pounds, was best friends with my ex-boyfriend’s 85-pound pit bull – they were inseparable. Since their size was so different, I had to treat them the same and disallow jumping up on my lap, otherwise I would have had an 85-pound dog on my lap. Sammy has always preferred his bed to laps anyway.

A few years ago, I lost my mother and brother within a year of each other. When I would have to drive to other states, Sammy was my calm and brought me peace. Playing with him kept me active when I really did not want to be.

This year, Sammy’s breath became very unpleasant despite having just had his teeth cleaned. Furthermore, he seemed generally uncomfortable, so I took him to the vet. Sammy’s doctor noted a large amount of swelling and said Sammy had an infection. Sammy’s swelling was treated with medication; however, the swelling was still there, spurring his doctor to run some additional tests. When the tests came back, my heart sunk – they indicated Sammy had lymphoma.