Man's Best Friend

Three years ago I was 31 years old. At this time in my life, I was not yet married and most of my friends were getting married or leaving. They were just not very reliable when it came to having a friend to be there for me when I needed one.
I lived alone and often went on hikes and explorations alone. At this time, a girl I knew was looking after a giant mastiff for the weekend. It was a huge, beautiful dog, with a lot of drool. This girl thought it was the cutest dog and loved to take it out and play with it. Having this dog around and seeing how girls loved to be around it gave me an idea. Maybe I could kill two birds with one stone; I would get myself a dog so that I could have a play mate and in return the dog would attract the ladies. A little while later, I came across an add that was selling a half mastiff and half great pyranese mix. The best part was the pyranese was supposed to make it so the dog did not have as much drool. I thought this was perfect.
That weekend, I drove to Delta, Utah and picked out a cute little female dog whom I later named Poe Poe. Poe Poe means kisses in Korean. The lady told me that the mix in Poe would make her very loyal and very protective. she would need lots of attention and always want to be close to me. This was exactly how Poe was. She waited with great anticipation when I would come home. After taking her off the leash, she would follow me around wherever I went adn when I stopped to work on a project, she would find a cool spot close by and patiently wait for me to finish. At night, when reading or watching TV, she would lay at my feet. While I slept, she would lay at the foot of my bed. She always had to be close and she always wanted to be as close to me as possible. This was just what I needed. I always had a best friend that no matter where or what I was doing, she was interested and wanted to be with me. For the next 3 years, we grew up together. And as indicated by the other dog, Poe attracted the ladies. I started dating and later married Liz. She fell in love with Poe at first site. Through our time together, Poe looked out for both of us. It only took me moments to understand where dogs got the title, Man's Best Friend, for that is what Poe became to me.
One of Poe's weaknesses was loud noises, especially fire works. They would send her into a frenzy. She would frantically search out a safe haven away from the noise. She ruined our tent and dog carrier trying ot get to me so I would make her safe. Last Saturday, a week before the 4th of July, Liz and I went out to watch a movie. We tied Poe up outside just as we always had done when leaving. We did not know that the city where we lived would be having a fire works show that night. We were not there when they started going off. We were not there when Poe started frantically trying to find a place to get away from the noise. All she knew was if she could get inside she would be safe with me. Her leash was too short to make it to the stairs that led 12 feet down to our basement apartment. The only way she could get down was to jump the 4 foot railing that went around the 12 foot deep stairwell. Thinking by doing this she would find safety, she jumped over and never hit the ground. Her cable was too short.
We will miss her tremendously...