Get ready with me: A memory of a dog-lover in the 2000s

Patricia Li

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Get ready with me: A memory of a dog-lover in the 2000s
Why mornings mean something to me

[Editor’s Note: The Get Ready with Me (GRWM) article series features the morning routines of people from different walks of life, from their first grabs to the way they get ready for work, and to the items they can’t live without.

Got someone you want GRWM to feature? Just email us at stories@rappler.com with the subject line “GRWM” followed by the name and designation of the person.]

Sometime in the early 2000s, we got our first dog. Her name was Blossom.

I was five-or-so years-old and I didn’t know how to interact with her. I was my most honest self then – awkward and introverted. When my siblings played with her, accusing me of not liking the family’s new pet, I stayed wary, a few feet away. 

I didn’t know how to handle this new lifeform. She was almost the same size as my hand. 

Eventually, I did approach her, and slowly our dynamics transformed into me and her against the entire family. Every time she had a snack in her mouth, only I could touch her while eating. If it’s not obvious, she was a glutton. Everyone used to ask if she was pregnant. She never was.

When I became a high-school student and switched to sleeping on the top bunk of a double-deck, every morning on the floor, without fail, she would wait for me to wake up.

She always got a scolding for it. She’d whine every time I wake up and then I had to switch back to the lower bunk so she could see me better. Everyone else in the house thought she was the one waking me up and I was adjusting, but the truth is, I was already up by the time she would start calling me.

I had no idea how she knew I was awake already. I never moved too much or made too much noise. (I was still an early riser back then.) She always knew me best though. My mornings always started with someone who loved me best paying attention to me. 

My young mind often wondered if this was the love most people spent entire lives searching for. What people craved in husbands and wives, sons and daughters, I found as a young girl with a mini-dachshund.

In the end, she passed away in 2013 – days after my 18th birthday. She taught me the deepest emotions I could feel as a child, and taught me my first real pain as an adult. 

I have less than ten photos of her with me right now because I used to lose my cellphones all the time. And cloud storage wasn’t a thing then. I guess the most painful thing is I can’t quite remember what she looked like anymore without referring to these few photos. 

BLOSSOM. One of the few photos the author has of her mini-dachshund. Photo courtesy of Patricia Li.

To most, the Get Ready with Me (GRWM) article series might just be simple lifestyle articles, and maybe they are. But to me, mornings mean something. I don’t mean to say they contain something deeper or big life lessons from a fairytale, but they’re definitely indicative of certain times in our lives – whether we know it or not.

GRWM started during the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) when we wanted to know how people from different walks of life started their days despite this new collective experience. 

Now, we’re moving past this period – as the cliche goes – together though physically apart. Most of us have adjusted to this new life stage – whether that means ever-changing routines or the exact opposite.

GRWM will continue to showcase the different stories of people’s mornings. Maybe one day you’ll realize that these few days tell a pivotal tale of your life.

But for now, we live in the present, and you can expect new GRWM articles in the near future. – Rappler.com 


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Patricia Li

Patricia Li consumes all types of media: mangas, K-dramas, C-dramas, young adult books, and Timothee Chalamet films. She is acidic, but will not let anyone stop her from getting her caffeine fix.