Rest in Peace beloved Charlie Beagle

Charlie the Beagle
2013 Sitting down to do a little summer homework at Starbucks.

It’s been two beagles (Isabella, July 2014, Georgia, November 2020, pictures below) and a lot of years since my sweet Charlie taught me that in fact beagles do NOT live forever. I felt sure he’d live to be 15 years at least. That meant I’d have had him another four years minimum. And heck, Butch—the oldest beagle on record—was 27-28 when he died, so I figured if Butch could do it, so could my Charlie.

Charlie and I found each other one September afternoon in 2003. I’d been looking for a dog since my youngest child, Margaret, went to kindergarten a month earlier (the house had become way too still). I prayed about it all the time, asking God to guide me to the right dog for our family. I had in mind an adult female mixed-breed rescue. But despite visiting several shelters, I had not found one with whom I felt even a slight connection.

It was my husband who suggested a beagle puppy. I checked the classifieds and of all the beagle listings, one ad stood out to me.

“Three-month-old, tri-color beagle puppy.  Male. Full blooded. Parents on site. $100.” The ad might as well have said, “The exact opposite of what you think you want.”

The children (5, 7, and 9 at the time) buckled up, and we followed the back road directions I received when I called the number listed. We rounded the last bend and the address came into view. As we drew closer, I saw a woman out in the yard with a blur of black and tan at her feet. I pulled up and shifted into park. The blur settled into a brown-faced, floppy-eared, saddleback beagle, his white-tipped tail waving to me. Instantly, I knew. I knew because I felt deep in my spirit that all-to-rare feeling of being perfectly in sync with God’s will. I’m not exaggerating when I say it was truly one of the high holy moments of my life.

I bent down and held out my arms. He came to me. And in less than 20 minutes, we were on our way back home with the beagle I’d already named Charlie. At puppy school a week or so later, the trainer remarked, “Wow. Charlie is definitely bonded to you. It’s unusual for such a connection to exist so soon.” Unusual? Shoot; it was downright supernatural.

Fast-forward 11 years to June 7, 2014.  My oldest daughter, Trellace, would be 20 in a month; she was living and working in DC for the summer. My son was about to graduate high school and Margaret, 16, was finishing her sophomore year.

She was the one who called to me, “Mom! You need to come here! Something’s wrong with Charlie!” I went upstairs immediately to the kitchen where I found Charlie standing, awkward and immobile. He seemed stunned, confused, afraid. I scooped him up and Margaret and I took him to the closest vet. Still, it absolutely did not occur to me that my sweet baby could be dying. That was unthinkable.

By the time we got out of the car ten minutes later, Charlie had begun losing hair by the fistful.  He could still walk, but he trembled all over, his tail sagging and his steps unsure. In the exam room, we held him close, telling him what a good boy he was, so handsome, so brave. When the vet came in, I lay Charlie on the table, continuing to stroke him while I told the doctor what had been happening. After the briefest of exams, the vet told me it didn’t look good. He could barely get a blood pressure and Charlie’s heartbeat was weak.

My husband, my son, and his girlfriend arrived and crowded into the exam room with me, Margaret, the vet, and the vet tech. My beloved beagle lay in the midst of us, fading away. “There’s nothing more we can do for him,” the vet said, “As best we can tell, he’s had a stroke. The humane thing would be to let him go.”

I think I screamed.

Seconds later, his heart stopped beating and he was gone. It hadn’t been forever. Not even close.

When he was alive, Charlie did not actually follow my blog (Google Translate™ doesn’t do Beagle), so I’m pretty certain he’s not reading this now. But if he were, if I could tell him just one thing, it would be this: “Rest in peace my Sweet Baby. And thank you. My heart is better for having been shared with you.”

(To read more of Charlie’s story, click here, or paste https://aileenmitchelllawrimore.com/tag/charlie/ in your browser.)

beagle smiles
Isabella Beagle, born April 2014
beagle tongue
Georgia Peach Beagle, born September 2020
 

By Aileen MItchell Lawrimore

Aileen Mitchell Lawrimore is a mother x 3, wife x 35 (years not men), minister, speaker, writer, retreat leader, and lover of beagles and books. She has a lot to say.