CityView Magazine - Fayetteville, NC
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1489136
CityViewNC.com | 9 Claire Mullen can be reached at clairejlmullen @gmail.com. really great care of her." I'd like to think that over the course of Annie's 13 years with us, we made good on that promise. She spent her puppyhood romping our cul-de-sac with a small pack of neighborhood dogs. Chasing tennis balls into just about every body of water in Eastern North Carolina. Camping in the mountains. Walking in the woods. Sneaking bacon and half-eaten peanut butter sandwiches off plates when she thought I wasn't watching. She would occasionally nestle her 75-pound self between us in our bed, until our babies came along and she began the habit of dutifully making her way upstairs each evening to curl up beside their cribs or outside their doors. e second word out of our daughter's mouth (aer "DaDa," of course) was "Aa-ee" — her version of Annie. As our son learned to walk, she would patiently allow him to grip her neck to pull up onto his feet and slowly shadow him through the house as he used one hand on her back for balance. And then, as her hearing slowly went and her joints started to fail her, she was content to pass her days following patches of sunlight throughout the house for her marathon naps. Some days, she would rouse just in time to accompany me on the ride to school pickup. I would li her into the front seat and roll down the passenger window so that she could feel the wind in her face. She'd nap as we waited and perk up when she heard her brother and sister jump into the car and feel them pat her on the head. is was Annie's very favorite part of the day. On her very last day with us, she spent an unseasonably warm late-fall Saturday aernoon playing in the sunshine with her people before her old, tired body gave out on her young, adventurous spirit. It's been almost two months, and I still go to fill her food bowl in the morning before remembering. We hope that before too long, we'll welcome another canine companion into our family. But one thing is for sure: ere will never be another Annie. e best darn dog that ever was. Spring Lake, North Carolina RUSTIC ELEGANCE SOUTHERN CHARM RUSTIC ELEGANCE SOUTHERN CHARM Spring Lake, North Carolina RUSTIC ELEGANCE SOUTHERN CHARM Visit thecarolinabarn.com and book your tour.