Every Christmas spent with my family has been so special and magical and I look forward to it each and every year. However, the morning of Christmas 2016 was by far the most special Christmas of all for my family and me, and it’s all because of Woody. The best Christmas ever began early in the morning. Eager to see my gifts, I soared out of bed, jumped on the beds of my family members, and took the stairs two at a time to get upstairs first. I waited for my dad, sister, mom, and brother to walk over to the tree and all the gifts around it. As we walked closer, my dad said repeatedly, “Oh my, oh my!” I was confused until I saw him: a little 6-month-old white lab in a crate beside the tree. The moment I saw him, I gasped, but not out of happiness. Back then, I was quite afraid of dogs, so I immediately burst into tears and didn’t want the dog in our household any longer. After we opened the rest of the presents, we let our dog out of the crate and he ran towards us with excitement. Still quite fearful, I tentatively looked at his tag, which was engraved with the name ‘Woody’. While I may have been scared of the dog at first, hearing the name, which was perfect, led me to become a bit more comfortable around him. After opening all of our presents, one particular memory comes to mind: the memory of me, sitting on the barstools, making a Lego while Woody sat underneath my feet. I dropped a piece of the Lego and he immediately ate it and because of it, my Lego was incomplete. It was at this moment that I knew: Woody was going to become such an important member of my family. In the 7 years that I have come to know and love Woody, he has been there for me through good times and bad. I know that if all else fails, I can come home and give Woody a great big hug, no matter what happens in life; he will be there for me. While I wasn’t at first, I am so grateful to have Woody in my life and I don’t know what I would do without him.