By Isabella Taylor, Poetry Editor

Often when we think of friendship, the word loyalty comes to the forefront as a very important and desired character trait in a friend. A loyal friend is a friend who never lets you down.

I think that a story about friendship cannot be without a story about man’s most loyal and trusted friend—the dog!

There have been many stories about the loyalty of dogs and there is one story that is so dear to the hearts of many, the story of Hachiko. Hachiko was an Akita dog born on a farm in Japan. He was the very loyal pet of Professor Ueno who worked at the University of Tokyo. Every day, Hachiko escorted Professor Ueno to the train station where he would catch a train to work and Hachiko would meet up with him up at the end of his workday at the station. Unfortunately, tragedy struck and their daily routine was abruptly ended when Professor Ueno had tragically suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and died. He never returned to the train station where his loyal companion Hachiko was waiting. Every day for the next 9 years Hachiko went to the train station at the exact time to pick up Professor Ueno. One of Professor Ueno students learned of his trusty dog and published several articles about his undying loyalty. Hachiko became a symbol of the spirit of family loyalty that all should strive to achieve. On March 8, 1935 Hachiko died of cancer but he was stuffed and mounted and is at the National Science Museum of Japan where many people pay tribute to his relentless loyalty, love and companionship.