Today my best friend, my constant, my familiar, Tamara turns 14 years old.

She first came to me from @greyhound_adoption_league as a rescue from a racetrack in Galveston, Texas. I had recently had the first step of a very intense two years of invasive hip surgery. I wasn’t prepared to have a dog but I was lost and depressed. I wasn’t planning on getting a dog, I was just going to foster her. But, it quickly became clear that she was meant for me.

We’ve been together ever since.

We’ve spent so much time together, and grown older together. We have both changed so much from those first moments to now.

Each step of the way she takes care of me, lays next to me when I am sad, keeps me going, and gets me outside. She is never judgmental (well sometimes judgmental) and is usually a pretty good judge of character. Breakups, pandemics, depression, and procrastinations (she loves this because we go on really long walks). She’s always there.

Now it is my time to take care of her. She’s older, tired, her legs are weak, her body needs rest. It’s my job to make sure she’s comfortable and happy.

But, in this time where I know that every moment I get to spend with her is a gift, and that one day, I won’t be able to have her in my life. I want to remember her as the queen she is. Now as the being that not only changed my life, but saved it.

Dress by: @mir.aslova

Photography: Hana Selena @hana_selena

MUA: Phil Noirande @phillanoiraude

At: LUV Studios