|
When your pet is nearly as old as your children (and your children are grown with children of their own), well, you get to be pretty attached to that pet. And unless that pet is a turtle or something with an extra-long lifespan, you’re probably spending your last years with it.
We lost a family member today. Suzanne’s cat Missy was old and had been ill but had been in good spirits and happy until the last couple of days. Today was, in fact, her last day, and it was hard on all of us, but especially on Suzanne. Missy has been around since my nephews were very young, and she has outlived several other family pets. Saying goodbye under those circumstances is painful and emotional.
Tammy phoned me this afternoon to ask if I could stay with her boys while she went with Suzanne and Missy to the vet’s office. Nobody knew for sure this was going to be such a sad day, but we didn’t want Suzanne to be alone if it did turn out that way. Tammy has a finely tuned sense of what kind of emotional support people close to her might need. It’s one of the reasons we’re glad she’s part of the family.
So I did drop what I was doing (payroll, ugh) and run over to Tammy’s house. D.J. and Dakota were glad to see me. Aiden smiled and giggled and even let me hold him for a little while, until he realized he could do better and started making the mommy noise. Suzanne and Tammy were gone for less than an hour, and I knew the worst as soon as they walked back in. We held each other and were sad together. Then Aiden said something funny and we laughed, and I went back to work. | 
