A TEACHER who was “upset and stressed” about her dog being put down was consoled by a heartwarming message from a pupil.
Gemma Dunne was worrying about returning to work at St Michael’s Primary, Glasgow, after her pooch Charlie was put to sleep.
But one of her pupils, known only as Callum, had penned an acrostic poem – with lovely things to say about the Golden Retriever using every letter of his name.
Mrs Dunne’s daughter, Lucie, shared the letter on Twitter and wrote: “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.”
The post has been retweeted almost 20,000 times and attracted almost 100,000 likes from social media users.
Callum opens on the front page by saying: “To Mrs Dunne, sorry if you don’t like it or it makes you emotional.”
Overleaf he continues: “I’m sorry about your dog. I want to say that your dog was…”
The poem starts with the letter C, the first letter of Charlie’s name.
It reads: “C – I bet your dog was really cheecky [sic].
“H – I bet your dog was always happy.
“A – I bet your dog was super adorable.
“R – I bet your dog was really related to you.
“L – I bet your dog was lucky to have you.
“I – I bet your dog was super incredable [sic].
“E – I bet your dog was always full of energy.”
He then adds: “But most of all know your dog was special, and your dog is in a better place and is looking over you.”
He signs off: “Charlie was a great dog. From Callum.”
Social media users were absolutely loving the thoughtful Callum’s touching tribute to his teachers pooch.
Layla Medina said: “So sad to hear about the dog, but bless little Callum. I hope that he stays sweet even when he grows up–the world needs people like him. His parents are bringing him up well.”
Another user said: “Whoever Callum’s parents are they need a good pat on the back for raising a lovely, thoughtful child.”
Imelda Finnerty said: “Made me emotional, this little one sums up the fear we all have of saying nothing about loss or saying the wrong thing.”
Anita Roth added: “Aww this is the sweetest. Wow that child is special. So are his parents.”
Speaking today, Gemma said: “Callum is a beautiful boy. He’s so kind hearted so I wasn’t shocked, he likes to give me wee gifts like wee packets of sweets and stuff.”
Gemma said that after Callum presented his poem she “was in tears and he was all pleased”.
“But it happened at 3 o’clock so we were ushered out the door and it wasn’t until I got home and showed my family that it sunk in, and they were in tears as well.
“We’d had a hard weekend. We only found out on Friday that Charlie was unwell and then on Saturday he got put down.
“I decided to tell the students because they could see that I was a bit off.”
Callum’s message was a well needed pick-me-up for Gemma after the pain of losing a well loved family pet.
“He was only 18-months-old. He was a family dog – my parents were very involved, but he was closest to Lucie, my daughter who posted it on Twitter. But he got a tumour and that was it. Just one of these horrible things that happens unfortunately”, she said.
She revealed that she could not believe the reaction the story got on social media.
“Who would have thought it? I don’t know much about Twitter but my daughter text me saying ‘this is getting a lot of interest.’
“Then the next thing she said was it was going crazy. It’s unbelievable. I know it’s a lovely story but I never would have thought it would go that big”, added Gemma.
