I feel much loved. I’m hopeful towards life and everything it has to offer. All thanks to Hope, my dear dog. I got her last winter, just a few days before Christmas Eve. I was an entirely different person back then. Depressed, despondent and distant - Three D’s that best described me. I wrote a ton of articles for the town’s local magazine, and that got me just enough bucks to move into a house of my own. My lifestyle never changed though; I lived off of eating pills and drinking booze. Everything seemed bleak and pointless. My heart and mind were in a dark place. I could never understand why I was even born, why did my parents die as soon as I came into this world. Was I a curse to all those around me? I always kept to myself, and these dark thoughts consumed me over time. There seemed no escape from the prison of my mind.

One typical day, these dark thoughts resurfaced for no real reason. That’s the trouble with being depressed; there’s no beginning and end to this horrid sickness. I knew my mind was in a bad place and I felt terrible, so I put on my sweater and rushed outside. I had no idea where I was headed to. I went to a cafe nearby and stayed there for two hours straight! I ordered a coffee and a cheese sandwich. The coffee was ice-cold when I left the cafe. I still remember munching on a bit of that stale sandwich...