Goodbye Charlie

We had a very sad day at our house on Wednesday. Charlie and Parker got out of the yard, which is not too unusual, but about an hour later, we got a call from someone telling us that Charlie had been hit by a car and that it didn't look good. Carl drove out to meet him and found Charlie by the side of the road. The man said that he had seen Parker by the side of the road, but that he had gotten scared and run off.

Somehow, the dogs had made it all the way out to US 42, which is pretty far from our house. We didn't have time to think about Charlie, as we knew Parker was still next to a busy road and we didn't want to lose him too.

After about a half hour, Carl found Parker in a nearby neighborhood. We were so happy and relieved to have found Parker, but after we did, we could finally think about Charlie. Carl brought Charlie home where we were able to grieve our loss. We cried a lot, but were thankful that we were able to find him, pet and kiss him and tell him goodbye.

We were very grateful to the young man who saw Charlie be hit and who called us. Though I imagine it was hard for him to do, his call gave us not only the opportunity to know what happened to Charlie, but also let us find Parker. Without his call, we may have lost both boys that night. He also let us know that it was over instantly for Charlie, so we are thankful that he didn't suffer.

Our time with Charlie was much too short, but we think we were able to provide him with a good and happy home. We loved him very much and we will miss him. He was always sweet and loving with our two (human) boys, but always managed to keep things interesting. Whether it was his constantly announcing the presence of our cat to us, his abnormally loud snoring, his insatiable appetite to eat everything, including anything left on the kitchen table, or his horribly failed attempts to "sneak" into the basement to eat cat food, we always (mostly) loved having him around. We'll miss him always being underfoot and always cuddling with us. He's the sweetest dog we've ever known and he'll always be a part of our family.

We'll always love you Charlie.


These are pictures from Charlie's first day at home with us. Evan was SO excited! Charlie let Evan carry him EVERYWHERE!

Charlie made himself right at home!

Parker and Charlie became best friends in a matter of hours. Parker will really miss Charlie too.

After a few days, Charlie decided that he liked OUR bed!

Charlie loved to be outside. He really liked the warm spring weather and sleeping in the sun.

I love my sweet boy.

I guess Charlie thought that the cat was taking up too much room! Silly boy!

Parker and Charlie did just about everything together. I loved seeing them cuddle.

Charlie was so sweet and gentle. He let Preston play with him all the time. Preston really got excited when he got to pet Charlie.

Charlie liked this spot on the couch. He could see what was going on inside and outside!

Charlie cracked me up when I saw that he gathered his favorite toys to sleep with! I guess he did not want Parker to play with them while he slept!

Carl loved Charlie too. He was such a sweet dog. He loved EVERYBODY!

Charlie enjoyed a book read to him by Evan! (He was SO good with Evan!)

Merry Christmas Charlie!