I spent much of my childhood asking my parents for a dog for every birthday and Hanukah, assuming that it would be a German shepherd mix like my family’s dog Latke, who died when I was seven.
They never said yes.
I always knew that I would grow up to adopt a dog, though.
![Alex, me, Latke. Derwood, September 1987.](https://i0.wp.com/sharav.dog/wp-content/uploads/first-grade-jpg.webp?resize=480%2C720)