Essay of Delight, A Greeting
Essay of Delight, A Greeting is an essay by Hopewell Valley Central High School freshman Kenzie Bangerter & was published in Panorama, the literary arts magazine.
Essay of Delight, A Greeting
A delight of mine is one of great importance to me, a delight that even on the days I feel as if I have been stabbed by a knife, I can smile through the pain of it. The joy that I feel comes through my dog who greets me every single day when I walk through my door is unmatched in the happiness it gives off. The joy feels like the warmth of the sun hitting you on a cold day. It’s not just that my dog greets me, it’s the way I am greeted, making me feel important and loved, like I am the only human on Earth. Even on some of my worst days my dog greets me with a smile and I can’t help but to return it. This is one of the greatest delights in my life that I have ever experienced.
It starts with an owl like head swivel, then leads to the full-on sprint to get to me as fast as possible. As soon as she arrives, she is so excited she can’t control her own paws, she jumps up like a kangaroo onto me, runs around my legs making me dizzy and she does any type of quick movement you could possibly think of. It’s then that you smell the old watery and rancid smell of mud coming from her fur from the walk she had earlier in the day. But I am so overwhelmed by the rest of her excitement to really notice it. Once she finally settles she flips like a burger to get the belly rubs she had been waiting for the whole day. Her hair glistens from the sun coming through the window. My dog has the same hair color as me and my two of my other brothers, while my other brother has deep blonde hair. Many people often joke that he must be adopted because of how he is different from us. However, my dog doesn’t seem to care what color hair anyone has however as she will jump around on everybody that walks through the door, just wanting to be friends with everything and everyone. It’s this mindset of my dog that I find most delightful, there is no judgment in her actions, just wanting to become friends with every person that walks through the door.
The delight of greeting your dog is also met with an opposing factor of guilt. Guilt that your dog has been waiting alone for you all day while you have been outside. The most guilt I feel with my dog is when I stop petting her and the smile in her face slowly dims like a campfire that has burned out and when her tail stops wagging her tail like a madman. I want to continue to play with her but I still have things I must do in my day. Another factor of guilt is the guilt that you feel when you remember that you will have to leave again but you will be greeted with the same undeserved passion every time. This forgiveness that my dog unknowingly gives every time I leave and come back, is one of my favorite delights in life.
Nothing can turn your day around as fast as a cute dog scrambling up to you with her feet moving like a cheetah to get to me, just wanting to be loved and give love to you. Dogs are so focused on pleasing others they can often forget about themselves and will bump into things on the way to coming to say hello. Sometimes all you need is to have one thing that makes you happy in the day and then your whole mood can completely change.
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