Andie Michael - Dear Chap: A Love Letter To A Little Dog Named Charlie Chaplin

DEAR CHAP

DEAR CHAP

A Love Letter To

A Little Dog Named Charlie Chaplin

Andie Michael

Copyright 1999 Registration Number TXu 720-045

Copyright 2018 Andie Michael

All Rights Reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.

ISBN 978-1-7325164-0-3

Front cover drawing by Jessie Homer French

Cover design by Jennifer Newcomb Marine

First Edition

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Michael, Andie

Dear Chap: A Love Letter to a Little Dog Named Charlie Chaplin

ISBN 978-1-7325164-0-3

Contact Andie Michael Unlimited

I N THE INTEREST OF

preserving the privacy

of people who played

a significant role

in my life

but

had no idea they might end up

in a book someday

I have chosen to change

some first names

and eliminate

most last names

Dedicated to

Joanie & Dede

and

everyone who has ever had

an animal as a best friend

Table of Contents

A Note to the Reader

Preface

Love At First Sight

A Fear of Forever

Out of the Closet

My Little New Yorker

Through Good Times and Bad

How Did You Do That?

Whats Wrong?!!

Enter Two Angels

A Kitten ... and a Puppy Again

The Veteran

To Everything There is a Season

Thank You, Chap

After Words

In Gratitude

In Memoriam

And in loving memory of

Appendix

Books You Might Find Helpful

A Note to the Reader

T HIS LITTLE BOOK BEGAN as a conversation I longed to have. After 15 1/2 years together, my best friend had passed on and I missed him terribly. I longed to talk about him, to reminisce about our years together, smile at the fun times and come to terms with the sad times. There was only one problem. Because we had lived alone together for most of those years, there was no one to have that conversation withno one who shared all of the experiences wed had and who knew all of those little things that made him so special.

He was the one who was there with me for my greatest joys and biggest challenges. He was the one who shared my meals, factored into every plan, and curled up beside me every night. He made me laugh, sometimes in spite of myself, and gave my life a sense of purpose during those times when it seemed to have none. Most of all, he helped me learn two of the most important lessons of my life: that I could have a committed relationship - and how to love unconditionally.

I dont mean to say that my friends werent sympathetic when he died. They really were. They were as understanding and supportive as they could be. But lets face it. When you lose someone you love so much, who was such an integral part of your life, there is not much anyone can do to help. Only time and tears can heal that kind of wound.

And there were those who considered him to be just a dog. To me, he was the best friend I ever had.

So I started writing a letter to him to put down on paper everything I could remember about his puppyhood, his personality, all of his special characteristics and the experiences we shared over the yearsdetails that I didnt want to let fade into time. I wanted to preserve what had been and would not be again, so that I would never forget. And I wanted to pay homage to a very special spirit.

I had begun to write it, and then I put it away for awhile. It was too painful; too difficult to call into memory so soon. Then, a friend lost her best frienda cat named Boand talked to me about her pain. I shared some books on the subject with her, and she found more on her own. These books offered anecdotes of other peoples experiences and solace for those of us who wonder if weve lost our mind to grieve so heavily for a lost pet.

When a human we love dies, society rallies around. They understand. Theyve been there. They know what were going through or, if not, they can imagine it because they know that were experiencing something that lies in the road ahead for them. Employers give their employees time off to regroup. Flowers and condolences are sent. Funerals are performed. There is validation of that grief. But when a beloved pet dies, life is expected to go on without missing a beat.

Whats the matter with you? we hear. It was just a dog.

Arent you over that yet?

No. We arent. It takes time. Not days, but weeks, months and maybe even years of coming home to an empty house or apartment, unconsciously expecting to hear the jingle of a collar or the meowed hello coming to greet us. It is a loneliness rivaled only by the loss of a spouse or a child. Our world has been left in an empty silence and it hurts.

I listened to my friend, and I cried with her. And then I decided to finish my letter and make it a book. I needed to, first of all, for myself. I wanted those memories to stay fresh in my mind, or at least be accessible to me when I want them. And not only that.

By sharing my story, I hope to provide othersmy fellow animal lovers for whom a pet is a best friendwith a safe place. A place where you will know that you are understood ... that you are not alone ... that you are not weird or crazy ...

And that its okay to grieve.

Preface

I T WAS 1982. I WAS 35 years old, living in my hometown of Studio City, California and working as personal assistant to a film and television producer.

Phil had offered me the job in 1978, four years earlier. For the previous two years, I had been working in Business Affairs for a man named Sandy in the West Coast offices of a distribution arm of CBS. Phil was in-house producer of movies for TV and Sandy and I prepared the talent contracts.