The Friend He Never Forgot
Shamrock and His Little Friend Named Waffles
Shamrock loved all animals.
Big ones. Small ones. Chickens, kittens, puppies, calves — if it was small and alive, Shamrock treated it like something special.
His best friend was a little dog named Waffles.
They met at doggy day care.
Waffles was a honey-colored corgi mix with short legs, a big personality, and absolutely no concern about the fact that his best friend was a 170-pound Irish Wolfhound.
For almost a year they saw each other every Thursday.
And every Thursday they were inseparable.
By the time Thursday rolled around, Shamrock already knew what day it was.
When it was time to leave, I would ask him,
“Do you want to go play with Waffles?”
That was all it took.
He would start spinning in excitement — a giant, joyful wolfhound tornado in the middle of the room. Walking to the car with a spinning wolfhound was not easy, but somehow we managed it every Thursday.
When we arrived at day care and stepped out of the car, I would say the words he had been waiting to hear:
“Ready? Go see Waffles! Go see your friend!”
And off he would go. He didn't even look back at me.
Whenever they met, Shamrock would lower himself into that exaggerated wolfhound play bow — shoulders bent, head low — inviting the little dog into the game.
Waffles never hesitated.
They would bounce around together like two completely mismatched puzzle pieces that somehow fit perfectly.
A giant.
And a little.
Then one day Waffles stopped coming to day care.
His family had moved away.
Shamrock never saw him again.
The staff told us that for a long time after that, Shamrock would look for him every time he arrived. He would scan the room, waiting, expecting his little friend to appear.
Eventually he stopped searching the room.
But something in him still hoped.
From then on, whenever Shamrock saw a dog that looked like Waffles — small, honey colored, about the same shape — his whole body would light up with excitement.
Waffles!
Except it never was.
Still, for a moment, he believed it might be.
Because some friends, no matter how small they are, leave very big footprints in a wolfhound’s heart.
