Today, as we celebrate National Cat Day, my family and I are still grieving the loss of our 18-year old kitty, Callie. Callie had been dealing with kidney failure for almost 6(!) years, and yesterday morning she let us know that she was ready to transition on from this world. Knowing that she was ready (though I feel she had been prepared for some time now and was simply waiting for *us* to come to terms with not having her in our physical lives any longer) doesn't make it any easier. My kids don't have memories of a time before she was part of our family, given that we adopted her from a shelter when they were only five and two years old.
With all that is weird and uncomfortable and downright annoying in life during this pandemic, the good thing to come of that was our whole family was at home to say goodbye to her one last time, to let her know how much we loved her. The hard part is that we are all here at home, with very few distractions or places to go to get our minds off her and how much we miss her telling us precisely what she needs and when she needs it, which was one of her specialties.
So we will navigate our space without her in it. Giving extra love to each other and to our other animals who are all missing her in their own ways. By giving love, we get love in return. We all need more of that.
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