Growing up, I never realized a day would come when my sisters and I would no longer live in the same house. I assumed every Christmas we would all wake up across the hall from one another, run downstairs to music blasting, with my mother’s monkey bread hot out of the oven and my father with a Santa hat on and a cup of coffee in hand.

The warm feeling of Christmas is still there, but we all don’t live together any more. My older sister, Virginia, moved into her own house on the other side of town, and my little sister, Abbey, is in North Carolina. Abbey stays at my parents’ house when she comes back for the holidays, but the feeling is not the same as when we were younger. The family has grown, though. Not with kids, but with lovable dogs.

When everyone is over, the chaotic mess of it all created a new feeling of home. The pecking order always changes depending on who is over at the time. Abbey’s dogs, Rolo and Shooby, are an inseparable team of mischievous Shiba Inus. When they are home, we are guaranteed there will be a constant mess or a wild dog chase going on. These two little rascals are too smart for their own good, but I look forward to seeing them. When they finally calm down from the excitement, they are sweet.

Virginia’s dog is the exact opposite. She is a miniature Yorkie named Chelsea. She requires constant belly rubs and hardly ever makes a mess. If you do something she doesn’t like, she will yap at you to let you know. She is tiny, but she always thinks she is in charge.

Then there is my dog, Goober. As you may guess by his name, he is a character, always looking for scraps, with the round belly to prove it. He lies low so you do not see him sneak a bite of your food when you are not paying attention.

We also have a family cat named Pieper who is more of a dog than any of them. She is fierce and comes and goes as she pleases. Nobody bosses her around.

I am excited this year to have everyone home once again under one roof. The new, hectic feeling of home with this pack of dogs created a warm feeling of love, especially when they crowd around me quietly, begging me to throw some popcorn their way, including the cat.

— Audrey Lee, intern