Greenville, South Carolina’s Sallie Gregory-Hammett has gone viral on social media after sharing the obituary she wrote for her beloved golden retriever, Charlie, who passed away at age seven following a five-month battle with lymphoma.
“I know it’s cliché but he was my best friend,” Gregory-Hammett tells the Huffington Post. “He went with me everywhere —work, hiking, trips to Home Depot. He was just a constant source of comfort and companionship and joy. Everyone that knew me knew Charlie and knew how much I loved him.”
Devastated after her loss, she decided to channel her grief into a loving tribute to her canine furbaby. She wrote of the dog’s love of smiling, snoozing, car rides, bananas and more, noting, “If we’re being honest, Charlie loved everything life had to offer (except stairs. He hated stairs),” adding, “He was good at a lot of things, but he was best at unconditional love. He taught everyone he met about loving people, and always seeing the good in everyone.” She also noted, “In [lieu] of flowers, the family asks that you give all your pups some extra love in honor of Charlie.”
Originally Gregory-Hammett planned to publish the obituary in the local newspaper, but due to cost she instead decided to share it with just family and friends, and created a mock newspaper article. They soon pushed her to share it online, and she did captioning it, “I wrote my dog an obituary because of course I did. He was the best boy.” The post has since gone viral, racking up more than 100,000 likes, with lots of people sharing about their missed dogs and how they celebrated them.
Read the full obit via her Twitter page below: