Anna Marie Tendler Shares How Late Dog Helped During 'End of My Marriage' to John Mulaney
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
'I thanked her for staying with me, guarding me until I was strong enough to survive without her,' the artist shared in a Elle essay about her French bulldog Petunia
Anne Marie Tendler/instagram
Anna Marie Tendler is mourning the loss of her French Bulldog, Petunia, and reflecting on how the pet supported her throughout her divorce from comedian John Mulaney.
In an essay published in Elle Magazine on Monday, Tendler — whose divorce from Mulaney, 40, was finalized in January 2022 — recounted losing her dog in April to heart disease and what a neurologist told her could've been "a brain tumor or brain stem disease."
"She took her last breaths while cradled in my arms. Even after life had left her body, I sat with her, held her, and continued to talk to her. I told her how much I love her," the artist — who had cared for Petunia for 10 years — wrote in her Elle essay. "I told her how grateful I was for her love and companionship. I promised her that I was okay and that I would be okay without her; crushed, lonely, but okay."
In the essay, Tendler recounted making "the decision that Petunia's life should come to a close" and detailed the French bulldog's impact on her.
The artist wrote that in 2020, during "a severe mental health breakdown and what appeared to be the impending end of my marriage," Petunia "would now guard me with the deepest kind of love I had ever known."
Tendler added that during a difficult period in 2021, Petunia gained even more significance in her life, sharing, "When I was hospitalized for depression, self-harm, and severe suicidal ideation in the first two weeks of 2021, the doctors asked me to make a list of my reasons for living. Petunia was the one and only thing on that list."
Mulaney and Tendler — who married in New York in 2014 — announced their split in May 2021. The news came three months after Mulaney completed a 60-day rehab stay to seek treatment after a relapse of his decades-long battle with addiction.
"I am heartbroken that John has decided to end our marriage," Tendler told PEOPLE in a statement at the time of their split. "I wish him support and success as he continues his recovery."
While Petunia was a devoted companion during Tendler's divorce, she was not always a perfect angel, according to Tendler's Elle essay.
“While Petunia had an undeniably adorable face, she was not what you would call 'a good dog.' She was, in fact, very, very naughty. She inherited one of the worst terrier traits: resource guarding,” Tendler shared in the piece.
"Oh, you dropped a tube of ChapStick? Forget about it; that's Petunia's now. A sock didn't make it into the laundry hamper, and Petunia found it? That's now Petunia's sock," she added. "You dared to accidentally spill coffee on the floor and want to clean it up? I'm sorry, don't even consider getting near that area with a paper towel. Not only does that spilled coffee belong to Petunia—the floor below it does as well."
Related: Bring Home a Hero! Rescue Helps Retired Working Dogs Experience the Joy of Finding a Family
In her heartfelt and honest tribute to her late pet, the artist also included a message for anyone thinking of purchasing a French Bulldog.
"Let this be a disclaimer to any person who is lured to Frenchies by their expressive faces and silly personalities: if you are considering getting one, don't. They are a breed that persists only through human medical intervention, and ethically, that is not a type of dog that should exist. Petunia was a lemon, but she was my lemon, and I loved her unconditionally."
For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!
Read the original article on People.
