Charlie Lloyd wasn’t sure he was ready for another dog so soon after Lucky died. The retired counselor at Rancho San Antonio Boys Home in Chatsworth thought maybe they should wait a while, but his wife, Dottie, wanted to mend this hole in their hearts as soon as possible.
When Dot’s health began to fail, Charlie retired so he could spend more time with her. It was the most precious commodity they had left. Maybe she was right. A dog right now would only make it better.
He walked into their bedroom where Dottie was taking a nap, and gently shook her shoulder. “Honey, wake up,” Charlie said. “We’re going to the Chatsworth pound to get a dog.”
They found Hank cuddled on his blanket in the corner of his cage, just waiting for them. All the other dogs were barking — “take me, take me” — but Charlie and Dot had already made up their minds.
If Lucky had had a brother, it would have been Hank, another Jack Russell terrier. There was only one minor thing they had to change, his name. Neither of them liked Hank. When they got him home, they began going through the alphabet thinking of names. They never made it past D.
“Danny,” Dot said, “Danny Boy.” Perfect. Charlie hadn’t seen her happy like this in awhile, but it wasn’t long before the smiles faded. Dottie had a stroke and was rushed to Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills with congestive heart failure.
While she was in the rehab unit, therapy dogs would stop in with their owners once or twice a week to visit.
“Honey, when you get out we’ll bring Danny Boy in to visit the patients, and the staff taking care of you,” Charlie said. Dottie smiled, but she knew the truth. She wasn’t getting out.
It was just the two of them after she died, Charlie and Danny, inseparable. Dottie knew her time was short, and didn’t want to leave her husband of 30 years alone in an empty house.
That’s why she wanted another dog so soon after Lucky died. Her husband would…
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