Sweet Little Boy Makes Heartbreaking Sympathy Card for His Teacher Whose Dog Died
When Mrs. Dunne, a teacher in Glasgow, Scotland, recently had to deal with the untimely death of her beloved dog, Charlie, she was nervous about going into school and facing her students. The young golden retriever who she adopted as a puppy was only with her family for 18 months before they learned he was suffering from an inoperable tumor pressing against his heart.
“My mum was so excited by him and loved telling everyone about him and showing them photos, including her class!” Lucie Dunne tells PEOPLE. “The kids often drew pictures of the dog for her and asked about him, and on Monday when she came back into work she was acting quite off, so let them know Charlie had sadly passed away at the weekend.”
Me and my new best friend, welcome to the family ????????
A post shared by lucie ???? (@lucie.dunne) on Nov 26, 2016 at 5:05am PST
“It had been very sudden, as well,” said Dunne. “Before we knew it, he was in intensive care with cancer and a massive tumor pressing into his heart. By the end, he was oxygen-dependent and we had to let him go.”
Not only was Dunne’s grief over the loss of her pet palpable, but telling her elementary-age kids what happened to Charlie was just heartbreaking.
The teacher shared the devastating news with her students in the morning. And amazingly, by the end of the day, one kindhearted little boy named Callum decided to create a special sympathy card for his mourning teacher.
Lucie shared the loving and creative note with the world via social media on Feb. 19, and the post has since gone viral.
Mum’s been so upset about the dog being put to sleep and stressing about having to go back into school today, and she got this from a wee boy in her class ???????????? pic.twitter.com/2qslb572CX
— lucie (@luciedunne_) February 19, 2018
The tweeted image of the boy’s thoughtful card has been retweeted over 24K times and liked by more than 130K people.
“To Mrs. Done,” wrote Callum. “Sorry if you don’t like it or it makes you emotional.”
He then went on to write a special kind of poem about Charlie.
After spelling out the pup’s name and using each letter to begin a complimentary sentence about her pet, Callum wrote “But most of all know your dog was special and your dog is in a better place and is looking over you.”
Then he drew a little picture and signed his name, concluding “Charlie was a great dog.”
What a kind and empathetic young man this Callum is! We have a feeling Charlie is looking down at him from over the rainbow bridge thinking he’s a pretty great comfort to Mrs. Dunne and Lucie right now.
Someone is definitely getting an “A” this semester. It’s what Charlie would’ve wanted.
