But a few minutes later, he made one of his escapes. The gate wasn't latched, and the door was ajar, and he pushed it open and off he went. This wasn't an uncommon occurrence; if Charlie saw an opportunity to go explore the neighborhood, he took it. It was cold last night, though, and snowing really hard. Liam went after him, and followed him all the way to the main road that goes through our town (a couple blocks from our house). The snow was really coming down, and visibility was terrible, so when Charlie went into the road, he got hit by a car. The driver tried to stop, but it was too late, and he basically slid right into Charlie. The family in the car was nice enough to help Liam bring Charlie home, and he was limping but seemed relatively unharmed.
Even though he didn't have any visible injuries, Charlie was obviously in pain, so I called the vet's office, then called the emergency clinic in South Bend to let them know I was bringing him in. All the way there, I was hoping he just had some bruises and would recover in a few days, but that turned out not to be the case. He had internal injuries that were just too severe, and we lost him.
We are all devastated, especially the boys, but we managed to take some time late last night to talk about the things we love most and will always cherish when we remember Charlie. Like the way he greeted us when we walked in the door, whether we were gone all day or just 10 minutes. The way he loved to swim and go hiking with us. The way he made himself right at home on the couch while we all watched TV together. The way he understood exactly what I was saying when I talked to him. He was the best dog we could ever have asked for.
Farewell, dear Charlie. From the minute we brought you home, you had our hearts, and we were incredibly lucky to have had yours in return.
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