Charlie, Moon Moon, Charlie-Muscles, Chuck, Upchuck, Charles, Charlie McLovin, Big Boy, Old Man, Chuck-er-oos, Shithead, Dumbass.

Those are the names I came to know and love. My dad gave me the last two.

The first 7 or so years of my life I don’t really remember. It was the last 5 that made it great. Mom found me on the internet because my family didn’t want me anymore. Man did they screw up! I was named Muscles but it didn’t fit me. Mom decided to call me Charlie.

She just finished up nursing school and moved into a place by herself in the same city as dad. Cincinnati. Dad had a mean ole corgi. She was mean to almost every animal she saw! But not me. We had a connection right away and I knew we would be friends till the end. Loneliness scared me at first. I cried and cried and cried for hours on end if mom and dad left me. I got so sad that they brought me to a fun playhouse FILLED with doggos when they would go to work. I just sat in the corner with another friend and doggo-watched all day. Soon, mom and dad moved in together and I couldn’t have been happier! Dad quickly became my new best friend! I wanted to follow him everywhere. As long as mom and dad were around, I was the happiest pup on the planet.

We all would go everywhere together. We had some friends, Doc and Kevin, that let us come to their farm so I could learn to dog. I wanted to be best friends with all the animals but the cats did’t like me all that much. The cows were only interested in food! I loved to follow dad around the farm as he drove tractors or 4 wheelers. Can’t tell you how many miles I put in at that farm! I became the absolute best at everything. I could out run the cows and I could cover my ENTIRE face with mud. One time I got so good at eating rocks, that they ended up in my nose. A really nice lady at this really scary building had to get them out! I even liked to help plant pumpkins.

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We went canoeing once. It was my first time in a boat. I really like it except for the fact that I didn’t know where or when I could go to the bathroom. So as we were heading through some ruff water in a turn I just LEPT out of the boat and into the water. I am swimming towards the bank like a champ. Mom must have really had to go too! I looked back and there she is jumping out of the boat after me. She flipped the canoe so dad and Hazie got to swim too! Mom never went to the bathroom that day but I sure did!

We went all over the place for a few years! Hiking and playing in North Carolina! That is where I tried stand up paddleboarding for the first time. I wasn’t very good at it. Mom and I fell off.

I traveled all over West by God Virginia where mom went to nursing school. We hiked all over the New River Gorge and even went to Seneca Rocks!

Have you seen Niagara Falls? I have and it is HUGE!

I swam and played in 3 of the great lakes. Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, and Lake Erie. Lake Michigan was my favorite since they have sand dunes EVERYWHERE!

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Did I mention dad and mom got married?! They threw this huge party and invited tons of people. I made sure to meet everyone I could. I’d never let an opportunity pass to make a random stranger my best friend. Being dads best man was one of the highlights of my life! In the house, after the party, they even had a huge white couch for me to spend the night on! That day was the best.

One day, we packed up all our stuff and just left. Hazie and I were pretty confused but we were with mom and dad so nothing else really mattered. We drove and drove and drove and drove. It must have been weeks! We went to some National Parks and even saw our buddy Nick

There were so many new smells and so many new sights! I couldn’t help but feel young and alive again! Traveling with mom, dad, and Hazie was the best a dog could ask for! We stayed in the Badlands National Park. Took some pictures at Devils Tower National Monument. We even saw Mt. Rushmore! Let’s see. There was Joshua Tree National Park, Grand Tetons, Zion National Park (where we hiked with my buddy Nick), Glacier National Park and hiking in the Beartooth Mountains in Montana with some smelly guy from a band. Dad called him Rob. Check out some of my pictures!

Then we eventually made it to Santa Cruz in California. We visited so many beaches and places its hard to remember them all. We lived just four houses from the beach and if we caught the tide right, mom and dad would always bring us to play on the sand!

I didn’t really know what waves were but man did I learn quick. My first day on a beach I was running around meeting all the dogs and all the people. It was quickly becoming my favorite place. I went down to take a quick lap of that nasty, salty water and BOOM! All of a sudden I get knocked off my feet. Then I see the sky, then water again, then the sky. I finally stood up guess who is running to my rescue? Pops. And he was cracking up. I ran to him and we left the beach knowing I wasn’t going anywhere near waves again!

After making millions of friends in California, I headed north. We live in Oregon for a little over a month and got to play in the snow almost every day. We took a whole trip allll the way up the Oregon coast almost to Washington! After another looooong road trip we popped out at our old place in Ohio. Nope. Not for me. I immediately jumped into dads truck and refused to get out until we went back to traveling. So they finally listened to me and we were off again.

We ended up in a little town called Seattle. We had an amazing view of Olympic National Park from our balcony. We lived on Lake Union and there was always something going on to watch on the lake! I loved to sit out there sunbathing and taking in the views! I woke one morning with a lot of pain and couldn’t use one of my legs. Mom and dad took me to see another nice lady and a strange place. Man was I high! We went out and had cheeseburgers and ice cream cones! I sat next to a beach overlooking Seattle just hanging out with mom, dad and Hazie. We drove all over Seattle and saw all the sites. I got to see the space needle. We are heading back to see the nice lady! I just want mom and dad to know that I will always love them and want to know that they have a special place in my heart furever. Thank you for everything you have done for me and making my life so complete. Hope everyone loves all day, every day! See y’all.

Charlie Johnson

Charlie and I had a rocky start to our relationship. He took awhile to grow on me. The persistence of his love and happiness could topple down indestructible barriers. He followed me everywhere. Literally. I can’t tell you how many times he stepped on my heel or I accidentally kicked him in the chin. Charlie was always there. He was determined to make me his best friend. And he succeeded. I’ve never told Lauren this, but when we were alone, I’d hug him and tell him how much I loved him. He knew it all along. I’m sure people see a lot of me in him and him in me. He loved life to the fullest. He needed just one thing. Us. As long as he had us, everything in the world was right. To everyone that got to meet him, I’m sure you have a story. A happy story. Did you spend a night with him? Can you still hear his late night lip smacking and running full speed in his sleep? Was he eating mud? Bringing you a shoe only to drop it in a part of the house you would never look for your shoe? I hated it all so much sometimes but it puts the biggest smile on my face thinking back on it. Maybe you saw him ram his face into 10 inches of snow and run around like a Charlie snow plow. He didn’t care what you thought. He was happy. That dog was a G. He never showed that he was in an ounce of pain, even to the end. He was my best bud and I could always count on him to put a smile on my face. You will be missed Charlie. You and your lust for love, happiness and adventure. You will always have a piece of my heart. Love you Shithead.