PENNY’S GIFTIt was early December 1961,and I was discharged from the United States Air Force at Patrick Air Force BAse, Located at Cocoa Beach ,Florida. As I entered my parents home on Long Island , New York and afterhugging them, I met Penny, my parents recently purchasedpuppy. She sat the entire Time and just stared at me.I asked,” Whose dog is she and where does she sleep”.“She’s no one’s dog and sleeps on the recliner in the living room,” answered my mom.After chatting with them a little while longer , I said good night. It was late and I hadn’t slept at all during the day-long train ride from Cocoa, Florida. to Penn station, New York city.When entering my bedroom, I flipped the light switch on and saw my mutt, Penny, resting on a pillow on the right side of the bed near the head board.I have a few theories about how she knew I slept on the left side and why she eventually slept at the foot of the bed. The ones I thought about all seemed reasonable. The one I liked the best, is that she loved me, since she seemed concerned about my comfort.When she needed to do her duty, she waited by the front door ( which was near my bedroom) for me to let her out. Make no mistake about it, I had to walk with her to a special area, after which I had to walk the perimeter of the yard, also. She would stop and wait for me to catch up with her. It was clear to me that it was my duty to walk with her; after all we were friends.When I ran an errand for my folks, using their car ( I didn’t own one), Penny followed me outside and stood by the passenger door waiting for me to open her door. She alway sat on the passenger seat, until I took her hunting rabbits during small game hunting season on the Island.Taking Penny with me and having her witness the demise of an animal (in this case a rabbit) caused her to avoid me for a couple of days. While in the kitchen, one day, she saw my mom take the skinned rabbit from the refrigerator and give it to my grandpa. Penny witnessed him cook it and serve it for dinner. I refused to eat it and I selected vegetables and a lot of Italian bread with butter, instead. Sitting around the table with my family after eating, was something I hadn’t done in a year , so I really enjoyed being with them.I looked for my dog but she had disappeared.When I went to bed that evening, I realized Penny still loved me , since she was resting on her pillow, on our bed, with her eyes locked on mine.After I got married and moved to our apartment with my bride. My dog visited, whenever with my folks. She followed my bride everywhere and sat on her lap when she could.Penny made sure I was not left out, since she licked my hand first.Amazing dog for sure!Our relationship with Penny continued usually the same way with her, until she got cancer. It was a quick and devastating disease for our dog.The vet bills and drug costs were very high, but my parents insisted on paying for all of them! They elected to care for Penny by themselves. I didn’t realize that they had such a strong emotional bond with Penny, probably more than my bride and I had.I still wonder about the time my parents with Penny.After dinner, Penny stayed in the living room, resting on my wife’s lap the entire evening. My father and I were downstairs in the den talking shop. I remembered I had to take the kitchen garbage outside to the back yard. I wanted to take the pails out front also, for early morning pickup.I brought the kitchen garbage bag down to the den’s outside door. I turned the outside light on and started to open the door when Penny ,who had to struggle just walking was at my feet and quickly went outside. She stood fearless and stared down a raccoon, causing it to back off and run away.My dog, without looking at me, turned around and went back upstairs to continue laying on my wife’s lap as if nothing happened,That night my folks took our dog to the vets office, where she died! The vet was lost for words about Penny’s deed that night.I’ll never forget that incident, and it’s been over 40 years.I never asked where she was buried.