Feed Charlie

All week the words of this country song have been going through my head.

Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep.

If I die before I wake, feed Jake, he's been a good dog,

My best friend right through it all, if I die before I wake,

Feed Jake

Charlie passed away on February 2nd, 2016

and she will be missed. A lot. 

I wish I could say it was due to old age and in a way, I guess it was. 

Charlie joined our family way back in the spring of 2003.

When we went to go pick her out of the litter, 

they told us the pups where a husky/lab mix.

We think she also might have had a little bit of chow in her, as well, because

in the middle of her tongue she had a black mark.

And oh, boy she really liked to use that tongue.  She was a licky, licky dog.

That little trait often scared little kids that weren't familiar with her.

But, she was just being friendly.

Hyrum named her Charlie after a book we had about puppy named Charlie, he didn't seem to care that it was a girl dog with a boy's name.  I've always struggled using the proper pronoun.

She was a great family dog, she loved protecting our little crew.

She was the best doorbell we ever had, always announcing when strangers arrived. 

I remember one night Jotham and I had gone up to Franklin Basin on the horses.

That night as we laid in our tent, we could hear the horses nervously whinnie and Charlie was restless, walking, around and around the tent. Something was out there. A news story about a boy being ripped out of his family tent and mauled to death by a bear was fresh on my mind.  I was nervous and was wishing Jotham had brought a gun.  But, Charlie was there and stood guard all night, protecting us.  Her bark was always worse than her bite.  The next day, we learned on the news that a bob cat had been sighted in the area we'd been camping and was being actively hunted because he'd been killing sheep.

  She loved swimming in the water, rolling in stinky, and long walks.

Even as an old lady, riddled with arthritis, she's find new life when she realized 

we were headed out on a walk.   She'd slowly fall behind, 

but just continue trotting along, happy as could be.

She was a good listener, Hannah loved confiding her troubles. 

Mark loved coming home to her welcoming licks,

 Hyrum will miss using her as a pillow. 

  

Dear God,

Please feed Charlie

She's been a good dog.

and our best friend right through it all.