Even Charlie Dog Deserves a Lifetime!

Well Jim's toe is still healing and last night he stepped on a roofing staple with the same foot - so who knows if he will ever be able to walk with me again. Thus Charlie Dog is my new walking companion.

Wow! I can pretty much bet Charlie and I walked more last week than we have ever walked in a week in our lifetimes! I put in a whole 25 miles last week! And Charlie Dog put in 8!

For those of you who have not met Charlie - he is a sweet little black cross between wiener dog and miniature pincher AND he is special as he has only three working legs. So, as we venture out I am a little worried about how he will keep up on a long walk.

Sweet boy he leads the way for almost the whole walk. About half way in he gets tired and starts walking beside me. I can't help but think how loyal dogs are and how if little three-legged Charlie can walk these miles - then I darn can as well! He pants and smiles up at me and I hear his scooby doo voice say "rats right we can rake it!"

I stop and teach him how to drink out of the spout of my walking bag - you know the kind with the tube. He catches on quickly and loves it. I always put ice cubes in the bag too so it's really nice and cold.

Along the way, there is one yard that really touches us. The landscaping is just beautiful and the owners have put two nice outdoor couches on a stone patio they had raised under several large shade trees. There are many beautiful plants and I stand there and envy their creativity and vision and financial ability to obviously hire an awesome landscaper to create it all.

Then I notice a large engraved stone placed prominently in the garden. I expect it to read "God Bless Our Home" or some other generic garden rock saying, but it does not. It reads a little girl's name with the years 99 - 2006 "Our little ray of sunshine. You are loved and missed."

Gulp -- she was just what 7 years old? The breast cancer slogan, "Everyone deserves a lifetime" comes immediately to mind. I think of my "ray of sunshine baby girl" almost 20 years old now and I shudder at the thought of losing her at 7 or any age for that matter.

A huge sense of pride for my walk rushes my veins and an overflow of confidence tells me I will finish that 60th mile - I make a note to think about this little girl when I cross that finish line.

I look down at Charlie and remember the day Victoria - at 16 - brought him home from the Lampassas County "doggy death chamber." I knew he would end up MY dog and I didn't want him, yet exasperatedly I gave in to another of my sweet teenager's whims.

Charlie and I resume our walk, me feeling so thankful for Victoria and all our wonderful memories and the things she had a chance to talk me into; Charlie so thankful for soft-hearted teenagers who cruise the pound, and are brave enough to come home and face their parents with a bundle of unwanted yet awesomely wiggly cuteness!

Yes even pound puppies deserve a lifetime!