I became Magpie’s mom on the worst day of my life.

After years of suffering, my sweet friend—Magpie’s mom—left this world in November 2018 when the pain became too much to bear. She entrusted me with Magpie, which was the most heartbreaking honor I could have fathomed.

For the first few weeks, Magpie’s presence in our home filled me with unrelenting anguish—a reminder that her mom was no longer here. Each time Magpie trotted by, I wondered whether I could have done more to help my friend.

I’d only met Magpie’s mom nine months prior. I was volunteering with Atlanta Beagle Rescue in February 2018 when a rural shelter texted me about a dumped hunting dog.

Can you take a senior female? Found as a stray. Has medical issues.

When I saw the beagle’s pitiful face, I knew we had to help.

A few days later, we welcomed then-named Betty Lou to Atlanta Beagle Rescue. When she visited the vet, we learned she was about 12 years old. Her list of medical needs was long: mammary mass removal, hernia repair, complex dental work, and spay.

Given her age and physical condition, we thought Betty Lou might spend her golden years with the rescue. But, to our surprise, she captured someone’s heart at her first adoption event. Betty Lou became Magpie, and her mom introduced her to love through car rides, nature hikes, and doggie ice cream.

But as Magpie’s health status improved, her mom’s declined—until the tragic day I inherited the title of “Magpie’s mom.”

Magpie was quick to settle in with our other dogs, and we affectionately dubbed them the Threagles: Magpie, Noodle, and Benny. Magpie had a knack for making herself comfortable, whether in a backyard sunspot, atop a pile of blankets, or in a laundry basket of dirty clothes. My husband, Ramón, took her on father-daughter walks just to see her eyes light up at the jingle of the leash. We called her Magpie Sadpie because of her perpetually distraught-looking face.

Six months later, we encountered another heartache when Ramón was diagnosed with leukemia. He was in and out of the hospital, and at times the Threagles were at doggie daycare for weeks on end. My heart broke to think that Magpie might feel abandoned yet again.

Ramón’s cancer went into remission for a while, but it returned the next year. In April 2020, the morning we left for the hospital for his bone marrow transplant, Ramón gave each of the dogs a dedicated farewell. He scratched their favorite places and reminded them how lucky he was to be their dad. I grew unsettled because it sounded like he was saying goodbye for more than a month—maybe even forever. He lingered longest with Magpie, gazing into her deep brown eyes, reassuring her how much he loved her.

And Ramón never came home from the hospital.

Somehow, some way, despite enormous loss, Magpie remained open to love—the most resilient, gentlest creature on this planet.

Her next chapter began when we met her final dad, John. Together with the Threagles, we built a beautiful life. We moved into a new neighborhood where Magpie captured the hearts of all. Magpie thrived in stability, growing younger each day while becoming our twenty-year old legend.

People often asked the secret to her long life, and I didn’t have an answer. I like to think the universe gave her this extended time so the love she experienced could overshadow the tragedy she’d endured.

Earlier this year, I shared a video of Magpie eating an apple, and the internet ate it up. I began sharing videos regularly, and she acquired a massive fan club. As people across the world gushed over Magpie, I couldn’t help but think of those first weeks as her mom, when simply seeing her broke my heart. How fitting that, in her last months on this planet, she became a beacon of joy for people across the planet.  

As I listened to her take her final breaths last weekend, I closed my eyes and imagined the welcome she received from her mom and Ramón. And I know Noodle was jazzed, too. Magpie was one of a kind, and I don’t know how I’d have survived those years without her.

What a blessing to have been Magpie’s final mom. She will always be the apple of my eye.