Hard to believe it has been a year.....yet on some level it seems like an eternity since I was blessed enough to have my sweet boy, Charlie Bell, here with us. April 7th marked our annual CELEBRATE CHARLIE BELL DAY and April 9th was one year since we lost our boy. I say lost, but he is not lost...he is forever here with me, with us and now with you. :) As you look at these pictures of his last weekend on this Earth, know, without a doubt, that he was loved more than any pug has ever been or ever will be loved. He was special to all of us...maybe b/c he almost died several times when he was a puppy. He had to fight for life from the get go. Or maybe it was b/c he was born on Dareck and CJ's Dad's bday (May 5th....hence the name Charlie), or maybe it was b/c I got him 3 weeks after the death of my Sweet Precious Grandma Bell and swore that a part of her was in this little fella....if in no other way but the snoring part.:) Maaaaaaybe it was b/c as my mom says, he looks like he ran into a wall. He had the most pug smushed face ever! Maybe it was his SUPER DOGGIN, or his nibblin he HAD to do when you scratched his bootie, or the fact that he peed with his back legs straight up in the air as if he was a tightrope walker.... My sister, Teresa, found him for me in Jacksboro, Tx and mom and I met the wicked evildoer at Dairy Queen on July 15th. He was so tiny, and in an instant, I fell in love with him and knew that I would do anything in the world for him, short of selling my own boys. :) I could go on and on and I know you are thanking me for not doing so but before I go, I want to tell you of how Charlie came to be the Super Dog that he was.

The moment I got Charlie away from that lady, I knew he was sick. What started out as kennel cough and a cornea ulcer skyrocketed into severe life threatening lung infections and respiratory distress. Numerous, too many to count, times a day he would stop breathing and every night, I had to rub his tiny little body in Vick's vapor rub and sit in a steam bath for hours so that he could make it thru the night. I had to give him daily injections of antibiotics, plus he was on oral antibiotics, as well as medicine for an intestinal parasite called Giardia. Also, once a week, he had to go in to the Vet to get an injection directly into his trachea to break up the congestion. Clint was in FL for school and the boys and I were in South Texas (Kingsville), away from family and friends. The first time Charlie stopped breathing, I panicked! I scooped him up and the boys and I rushed to the Vet. We did not have shoes on and I did not have my wallet....the Vet knew us tho and was so wonderful to us. But! When we got there, the very first thing my sweet precious little boys did for me was tell the Vet," Mommy ran all the red lights and drove here very fast." It was SOO funny, but soo true and we did then and still do get a kick out of that.

The boys and I spent the summer of '96 caring for this sick, fragile little speck of a pup, who, without fail, ONCE a day, EVERY single day, would get a burst of energy and play his heart out. It never lasted more than 30 minutes but in that short time, his will to live gave us all the boost we needed to carry on the fight for his life. We never left him alone. Luckily the boys were out of school, and I was not yet working as a nurse. We took him with us everywhere we went. If we had to go to the post office or grocery store, the boys would sit with him in the car with the AC going while I ran in. I slept in the floor next to his bed every night. I prayed, and prayed and prayed and everyone I knew prayed for him. Mom had him ON the prayer list at church...just as CHARLIE....:) I cried...oh boy did I cry. I remember the boys drawing me a picture of me...crying with Charlie next to me. He had hearts all over him. My sister used to say, I bet he looks at you and thinks, thanks for saving me Moma. And I guess we did b/c there was no way he had been taken care of and who knows what would have happened to him.

It eventually did get to the point that I had to decide, when is enough enough. I just did not know how I was going to deal with it anymore and he was suffering too much. I remember the night,...I laid down with him, as I did every night, and prayed to God to either take him or heal him. Neither Charlie nor I could go on any longer the way things were. I completely surrendered to Him and when we woke up the next morning, I knew the answer God had given me. He decided that I was worthy enough to keep that precious pug! It was still a long recovery but the healing progress was instant and without a doubt, miraculous! The Vet was speechless. Every time we would go in, he would gather everyone in and say, "LOOK AT CHARLIE! HE MADE IT!" He said he had never seen an adult dog, much less an underweight puppy survive anything like that before.

Charlie Bell (Charlie after Clint's Dad, Bell after my Grandma Bell) and I spent the next 10 years loving every moment together and making sure that God never regretted letting us have each other. But, he grew old. He was blind, deaf, arthritic, anemic, and in the end, that old respiratory infection came back to take him from me again. I let him go this time tho, he told me it was time, and there was nothing I wanted more than to end his suffering. The peace that came over him was yet another gift from God and exactly what we all needed. Dareck and Clint were there with us. Randy was in bootcamp. It was the hardest thing I have ever had to do, and I never want to do it again...but I will, in a heartbeat b.c that is the kind of PugMoma I am. ;)

Thank you for all the love and support you showed us during our difficult time. We have lost many more dogs in our circle of family and friends since then, and my heart aches for you all.

This is a little insight into why my baby boy was so precious to me, to all of us. The stories and funnies are endless....but you get the idea, right? ; ) Being a Foster Pug Moma makes me feel like I am honoring Charlie's life and struggle. I LOVE the breed, and I see a piece of Charlie in every pug I encounter. I am honored to be a part of MidAtlanticPugRescue. :)

I love you Charlie Bell!! You are with me always. Run, play, snore as loud as you want, and eat like the King that you are! Moma will see you again someday. Thank you for your love. I miss you every day.