A Doggy Love Story

My family has always had a Golden Retriever as our family dog and even bred two of them for several years. Henry was the male and was always "my dog" as a teenager. I always said that one day I would have one of his puppies. For as long as I can remember from us having golden retrievers, I always wanted a puppy of my own when the time was right and I was capable of caring for my own dog independently. Unfortunately; after several litters of puppies, my parent's female dog Lilly was pretty worn out so my parents decided to neuter Henry and stopped breeding the two of them. I was devastated because I was still not in the right place to care for my own dog and I really thought I had missed my chance of having one of Henry's puppies. Shortly after the two stopped breeding, I moved to Dallas for several years and then to Austin, TX. The only dog I ever got to see during that time were on the rare occasions I would visit Henry while staying in East Texas for the holidays.

In 2012, I ended the engagement with my fiancé and my family helped me move into an apartment to finish college in East Texas. It was my first semester back and I was starting to feel pretty lonely living by myself. That was the moment I realized it was finally time to look for the dog I had been waiting for. I called around and found a breeder who was also a professor at my school. She had two females and one male Golden Retriever puppies left and was asking $500 for the male. I only had $200 but I'm pretty sure she saw how badly I wanted this dog and how long I had been waiting to find him. Luckily, she decided to let me have him in exchange for the amount I had. A few days later in front of PetSmart, she stepped out of her truck with the most beautiful puppy I had ever seen nestled calmly in her arms. I ran up to him and the minute our eyes met I instantly knew how special he would be to me. I had been planning for this dog for years and even chose his name upon meeting a co-worker named Charlie while living in Austin several years before. The breeder gave me Charlie's AKC papers which I began looking through several days later. There are no words that can describe the shock and sheer joy I felt when I read that Henry was Charlie's great-great grandfather listed among the genealogy information. I finally had one of Henry's puppies at last, and had not at all missed my chance as I had thought. Everyone is partial to their own dog, but Charlie means everything to me.

Last year, I found out that I am not going to be able to have children and I know some people may not understand the comparison but it just makes me even more grateful to have Charlie. I have severe PTSD and Charlie has become my support dog and is extremely in-tune to my feelings and emotions. He licks away my tears, lays beside me when I cry, and often protects me from myself from going over the edge. Unintentionally, he holds me accountable for my actions in the fact that if I begin to make any former negative decisions, I could risk losing him and everything else I hold dear. Charlie has made me into a better, more sensitive, and caring person. I fully believe fate brought Charlie and I together and will bind us for eternity. Charlie is my light, my joy and my sunshine and I believe to this day God saw the sincerity of my desire to have a puppy and answered my prayer tenfold by giving me my Charlie Boy.