Happy Birthday to Charlie

Today would have been our dog Charlie's twelfth birthday. I have been thinking about him today, as I still do every day, even though he died almost two years ago. Yesterday, I watched his YouTube video again, and it made me teary, just like it always does. He was such a good boy.

A little over a week ago, I was a guest on Wisconsin Public Radio's "At Issue with Ben Merens" to discuss the lessons we learn from our dogs, using "The Lessons of a Perfect Dog" from Raising Charlie as a starting point. Ben had just had to put his dog Maestro to sleep earlier that week, so it was an emotional hour. Listeners called in with their own dog stories, mostly in commiseration with Ben, and it became clear to me that everyone who has been through the loss of a beloved dog shares the same grief. Our dogs are family and losing them hurts as much as losing a family member.