I sprint out to the mailbox. Out of breath, I pull out the mustard yellow package. "Lokai" reads across the top in giant black letters. I come back inside and immediately tear away at the tape. Inside, I see the mint green bracelet that represents the Humane Society wrapped in plastic. It crinkles against my fingers. Opening it like a chip back, I pull out the bracelet. I see a white bead that is filled with water from Mount Everest, and across from that, a black bead filled with sand from the Dead Sea. Warmness fills my heart and I am reminded to stay humble and stay hopeful. I take a glance at my two fluffy dogs. I am wearing this bracelet for all animals like them. Lokai donates a certain percent of their profit to the Humane Society and I am proud to be apart of that. My smile becomes so big my cheeks hurt.

“Please let us get another dog, please!” My brother, sister, and I beg. Over and over again we are told no. We plead with our mom to try and convince her. “Bella needs a friends to play with!” Our mom’s eyes roll back. We believe our evidence is very compelling. The only thing running through our mind is a dog. The word “no” doesn’t seem to leave our ears. We continue to talk about it for weeks on end, thinking that our mom will eventually cave. Eventually cave, she does.  Our hearts leap out of our chest, and on February 18th, we hop in the car and drive to the Toledo Humane Society.

I pull on the metal, cold door and step into the lobby. Dogs barking immediately fill my ears. My dog Bella, is yanking at her leash to go and make some new friends. My family and I walk towards the back through the narrow hallways to go and see the dogs. The barking becomes louder the closer we get. It seems as though my sister and I say, “Awww!” every two seconds because of all the precious puppies. Then, we get the attention of a worker wearing a bright purple shirt. She then puts a brown and white dog named Koda on a leash. We walk out the back door and the sun meets our eyes. We follow a path to a giant fenced-in area. The gravel disperses beneath my feet as I walk across it. As the chain-link fence closes, both of the dog’s leashes are released. They can not keep their paws off of eachother. It is as if the dogs have known each other for years, and my family and I know that we would be rescuing our new best friend from the Toledo Humane Society.

His big brown eyes stare back at me. His paws dance across the floor. Koda could not have a bigger smile on his face. When he finally gets to meet Bella, he explodes with excitement. The two dogs clash and are jumping all over each other. Dog slobber is flying everywhere. Their barks can be heard from a mile away. My sister and I run up to our two dogs and start joining in on the fun. Koda’s dark fur is warm from the hot sun. Their ears are flopping around as if they are preparing for take off. I turn to my sister and see the giant grin on her face, and then see it replicated on our best friends Bella and Koda.

“One of the best dog-to-dog meetings we’ve ever had,” The worker states. I can barely comprehend everything happening around me because of the overwhelming excitement. My family and I walk back into the building with our brand new dog. All the dogs bark endlessly around us. We are led to the front desk where my mom puts pen to paper, and we are officially the owners of Koda. I push on the clear glass door and watch our two dogs fight to see who can reach the car first. The car door slides open, as if in slow motion. Barely enough room to fit, both dogs jump in and we are on our way to Koda’s new home, and he gets to begin the rest of his life with us.

A couple months later, I am sitting on my couch with the tv blaring, and scrolling through my phone. “Lokai” reads across the top in blue, and underneath there is a picture of a woman holding a dog. On her wrist, a mint-green bracelets sits. “I’ve never seen that before,” I think to myself. My finger scrolls a little further to read the description. I see that the newest foundation that Lokai is supporting is the Humane Society. I knew immediately that I wanted to buy it. I turn to my right and see Koda staring me down as if he knew what I was thinking about. I want to buy this bracelet for a couple of reasons. First, Lokai’s slogan is “Sometimes you’re on top, stay humble. Sometimes you hit a low, stay hopeful”. That message is so important to me in day-to-day life. Secondly, some of the money raised by the bracelets goes directly to the Human Society, so I want to support that any way I am able. The last and most important reason is my best friend Koda. He is so important to me, and what better way to represent that than to buy something I can wear all the time.

Each and every day I am able to look down at my wrist and think about those three reasons why I bought this bracelet. When I am on top of the world, I look at the white bead and remember to stay humble. When I feel my lowest, the black bead reminds me to stay hopeful. The Humane Society is working hard each and every day to save our animals. Finally, I’ll always have Koda with me. He can’t talk, although I wish he could, he always knows what to say. He is always there no matter what, and I am so grateful to be a part of his life, and how he is a part of mine.  He has grown to be by bestfriend alongside Bella.