Cat and Dog, Ying and Yang, Ebb and Flow, Push and Pull
I still remember when our family first adopted Charlie into our little pack, he was the smallest git of the litter. He looked nothing like his brothers and sister, a loner. My father named him Charlie, his two brothers were Timmy Turtles Mouse and BJ, his sister was named Holly.
But the runt grew into the largest of the litter and he came back and wrought havoc upon his family, or maybe he was just bonding who knows. But the young pup Charlie looked nothing like his siblings, my Grandfather always claimed
“a filthy little terrier crept under the fence and got into his mother”.
Regardless of his upbringing and parentage Charles Xavier Lion-heart Loughland matured into a dog loved by all. He was always happy, a smile consistently brightening his face a source of joy to everyone in the Family. None of us could resist his unyielding charm and spirited nature.
He even won over my eldest brother Aaron who for a long time despised Charlie for reasons unknown to myself. We carted Charlie around with us, moving everywhere a true traveller. He laughed or barked off the hardships we all faced, we tried to give him away after one move but he kept running away from the new owner, so my Mother had to concede and allow him back into the fold. He was only away for a few weeks, but his joy of being reunited with the pack was truly inspiring.
He was always there until Mum had to give him away again, when we moved into a new house that didn’t allow pets, so for almost a year Charlie was absent from the family, and on one fateful day he was returned to us. He had run away from the home we gave him to a few days before we were moving. His appearance was haggard, he looked as though he had been living real rough, missing teeth, matted fur and a skittish look in his eyes. Sorry fella almost died from excitement when he saw me, the dog catcher had brought him in complaining of him biting a veterinarian. I explained to the dog catcher that we no longer owned this dog, we had given him away almost a year ago, but I said give him here and come back in a few days. Little did he know we were moving to Newcastle in less an 3 days, so little Charles was back but he was never the same after that year away, who knows what those terrible people did to poor Charles.
His years in Newcastle were restorative years, he came back into his old self almost, there was always something different about him, but he was becoming more and more like his younger self. He had found his home in Hamilton, we stayed there for almost 3yrs, a record for our family. But then we moved to Mayfield and Charles didn’t quite click with this new place, too much traffic too many cars for his free spirit. After Mayfield we moved to Tighes Hill, his final resting place, we bonded strongly with our cat Maxxie, they became the best of friends an unusual match.
When he finally passed away after almost 13yrs of life the person who mourned him most was the one who knew him the least amount of time, Maxxie. My little sister reported waking up in the middle of the night and finding Maxxie sitting on top of the microwave doing a weird coughing thing, like he was crying. When I heard the news of Charlie’s passing I had just finished a 2 day camel safari in the Bikaner dessert in Rajasthan. I was flogged, lack of sleep and freezing, the news of Charlie’s death was so unreal I couldn’t even process it. I wanted to cry but I just couldn’t believe it. I went to the train station straight away and bought a ticket to the south, I needed to escape to somewhere warm and comforting, to protect myself from the onslaught of this cold news.
I still miss Charlie everyday, he was so involved in my day-to-day life, I find myself still calling his name and I have to remind myself he is no longer there to answer the call.
Rest in Peace, you were the best of friends, a valiant protector and a true free spirit.
babasimmons 