Driving into my family's Native American reservation, I look around and see beautiful plains and valleys going for miles; just tall grass and pastures of bison and cows. The huge sunset covers everything you can see over the flat nothingness. Everything is so peaceful as the tall prairie grass flows softly in the wind. No loud cars, loud people, just nothing. I hadn't been there in years but it was just as beautiful as I remembered. 

Then we start getting into the small town of Twin Buttes, North Dakota. I look to my left and see an old run-down high school, my dad tells me about how they were state champs and all the good memories he had there. We drive a little farther and see about fifty tiny trailer houses. My parents start to tell me about some of the people that live in those houses, and they almost seem unreal. Stories of a lady who abandoned her 3 children all around the same age as me to live on their own, aunts and uncles living in that tiny little house with at least 5 children, and girls getting pregnant when they're only the same age as me. They said most of the problem was the drug abuse that went on in this town. It made me sad to think that all my cousins and my dad had to grow up here and just think this was normal. 

We drove a little farther and saw another patch of houses and a playground. I noticed that there were stray animals everywhere, every way I turned there were at least 6. The dogs looked like they were all starving. There was one who only had one eye, one only had 3 legs, and another one was blind. Then we saw a puppy, he must've been at least 3 weeks old at the time. It was sad to think that this hopeless puppy had no other choice than to be a scruffy stray dog like the rest of them. So, we ended up taking him back to my grandpa's house. He was so fragile, his ribs stuck out so far they looked like they could shatter from just bumping into him. We bathed him and pulled off hundreds of the fattest ticks I've ever seen, it took us hours. It felt great to help this dog because you could tell he just wanted to be loved. We don't go to the reservation very often, but when we do I think my parents try to teach my siblings and me good lessons and life skills. Never take what you have for granted because there's always someone who has it worse than you; And always try to help someone any way you can. I think these are good life lessons that I’ll remember for a long time.