09/02/2026
This is Miranda Lynch. This photo was taken late July of 2020 at Cody Park in Leavenworth, Kansas. She was swinging with her dog Charlie in this photo. A little over a year later Miranda was killed by a drunk driver while walking home. I wanted to change perspectives today and focus on Charlie, the dog, considering our furry loved ones seem to have a bigger impact on people. Our family had known Charlie since she was inside of her mommy’s belly. Her mommy’s name was Cuddles. A chihuahua who belonged to our next door neighbors. The dog that was Charlie’s father had been accidentally run over by a car before Charlie ever came out of her mom. Charlie became the center of our world when she was born in November of 2012. Over the years we had all bonded with Charlie but no one was closer to her than Miranda. We all described them as best friends. Charlie sought for Miranda’s approval over and over. This picture is just one of many of the two of them together and as you can see they both have big smiles on their faces because when together they were happy. When Miranda was killed in August of 2021 it took its toll on the entire family, but nothing like it did to Charlie. Everyday she sat by the stairs waiting for Miranda to come home but she never did. We watched her health dramatically decline as time continued to go on, I had never known dogs could become depressed and there it was happening before my very eyes. Charlie never smiled again. I could go through so many photos after Miranda’s passing and will not find a single one of Charlie smiling. Charlie passed away in March of 2023 after a blood clot made its way to her heart. We like to think she’s happy again running around with her best friend Miranda in heaven or wherever we go after this world. Charlie, our furry loved one who we treated as a sibling was heartbroken for well over a year before she finally passed away at the age of 9, way before she should’ve passed and we are still convinced to this day it was caused by the emotional pain she endured from losing her best friend. Miranda wanted to cuddle with her dog again, instead the woman who killed her left Miranda for dead in the street and went home and cuddled her dogs. Drinking and driving is a CHOICE. If Miranda’s young life being taken isn’t enough to convince you to get a sober ride then maybe the story of Charlie, a chihuahua scottish terrier mix who was 7 years old at the time losing her best friend and never knowing why can convince you. We can’t explain death to a dog, do you want your furry loved one thinking you abandoned them because you drove drunk and never made it back home? Or someone else driving drunk and killing you and your furry loved one thinking the same thing? Abandonment, not death, but forgotten about or not cared for enough to come back to them. Drive Sober or not at all. LLM🖤🦇LLC🤍🐾
