05/19/2026
Saying goodbye to my best friend, Chuck.
My ride or die for the last decade.
God really has a twisted sense of humor sometimes. He brought two completely different personalities together and somehow made them unbeatable.
When I got Chuck off Craigslist, I never would’ve picked her out of a thousand puppies. She was three and a half months old, terrified of everything, unsocialized, sick, and so skinny it hurt to look at her. I’ve refrained from posting those first pictures because she was absolutely emaciated.
I picked her up Labor Day weekend, and I didn’t even have the funds for an emergency vet. With the help of people around me and whatever resources we could scrape together, we just tried to get her through the weekend. Truthfully, I didn’t think she’d survive it.
But she did.
That Tuesday, the vet told me she had more parasites than a long-term stray, that she likely came from one horrible puppy mill or the Amish, and that should tell you something.
And honestly? I think the people I got her from sold her for drug money.
But I knew that little puppy needed me more than I needed some perfect dog with the perfect personality.
So for years, we worked on confidence. Socialization. Trust. I worried constantly she’d turn into a fear biter because she missed such an important stage in life. But somehow, against all odds, she became the sweetest, funniest, most loyal soul I’ve ever known. She only ever “cleaved” a couple ankles in her lifetime — BK and Andy can testify to that.
Over the last 10 years, that dog saved my life more times than I can count.
People used to joke — and honestly still do — that they didn’t know where I ended and that dog began. If I couldn’t see Chuck, it was because she was standing in my blind spot. She never stopped watching me. Not for a second.
At night, she fit perfectly behind my knees as we slept, the best snuggle buddy in the world, because once she got comfortable, she turned into an absolute rock. She was my little spoon.
And now my world feels painfully empty without her in it.
Yesterday, my life changed forever when I lost her.
Chuck, you were my best friend. The peanut butter to my jelly. The best potato a girl could ever ask for. I’m going to miss you more than words could ever explain.
Thank you for every mile, every cuddle, every laugh, every quiet moment, and every single time you stayed by my side when I needed you most.
I wouldn’t trade you for the fu***ng world.
I love you forever, Chuck.
