Goodbye...

When I met Justin, he used to always say "this is a package deal, me and the cats...we come together..."  That was 13 years ago!  This past week we had to say goodbye to our furry friend after the vet verified some pretty complicated issues.  Funny how we (probably more correctly I) have threatened to "get rid" of both Zeke and Sheba many times over the last 13 years.  But when it came right down to it, we were all pretty sad when the time came. 
The kids especially were not sure about all of this "put to sleep" talk.  E asked if we please would "never do that to me."  Z wanted to be there (we didn't let him),   and wanted to know why we couldn't try some of the treatment options. S held the tears in until he just couldn't any more.  We talked about some of the funny things Zeke used to do:  Two times he trapped himself under our elderly neighbors lattice deck. The man had to take apart his deck to free Zeke.  He frequently brought in birds and even a bat into the house!  He never really took to me, but was almost always sitting on top of Justin's chest during the night.  When Z was born so was Zeke's intolerance to children! We rarely saw him during the day again!! He was a hearty cat, who endured many changes, many moves, many temporary houses...and many caretakers. He was a sweet cat, and will be missed.  

Saying goodbye!!