Well, Peanut had to learn a life lesson today. My husband called me not long after leaving the house this morning to warn me there was a dead cat laying in the road in front of our house. Why he didn't just take care of then I don't know... he's a man. I asked if it was one of ours he said it was gray with a collar. Well, both of ours are gray and they wear collars. I peaked out the kitchen window to confirm it's location and went outside to get a closer look. Sure enough, there lay Sparkle... I'll spare you the gory details but it wasn't pretty. Sparkle was about 6 months old, the last of the litter to live at our house. The others were given away or just ran away. He, (yes he--Peanut named him and insisted he was a she and it just wasn't worth arguing with a five year old about it) was a very sweet cat that just loved to be loved. After seeing my poor baby kitty laying there I called Nickel back to ask him to take care of the cat on his lunch break if he really couldn't come home right now to take care of it now. He agreed even though he didn't like the idea--but come on, that is NOT woman's work! He doesn't like cats so burying one shouldn't be a problem for him, and besides, he has buried two cats in the last year and a half (one was crushed by his momma after a few days and I ran over one in the spring--and I'll never get over it!).
Well, Peanut had seen the two other dead cats, but this one she loved on, on daily and was very attached to. So, after getting off the phone with her daddy she could see that I was upset. I'm not one to lie to my daughter but I will try to soften blows when I can. I looked at her and told her what had happened. Oh, the look in her tiny eyes. She was crushed. First her great-grandma now her cat! Is it the end of the world?!??!?
So, we finished getting ready. There was no way to get her out of the house without her seeing the cat (because daddy wouldn't take the time this morning to take care of it because he wants to be 15-20 minutes early to work since he can't be 2-3 hours early anymore... but that's for another post on another day) and she can't close the back door by herself so I had to let her go out. She immediately spotted the cat. As quickly as I could I walked in front of her and shielded her from seeing much more of the cat. I took great care backing out of the driveway because he was directly in my path but I managed to not hit him again. Peanut sobbed all the way to school and it was all I could do not to cry with her. Poor thing. My heart just melted for her. Once we got there I took her to my office and just held her and loved on her until she was able to go to class. I walked with her to tell her teachers what had happened and to explain the red puffy eyes.
Life lesson #1, Sometimes the things you love most in life go away forever. Check.
4 comments:
Life. I remember losing cats to horrible accidents when I was a kid, and I was always devastated. Fortunately, the day to day has a way of mitigating the devastation.
But my condolences, all the same. It's a nasty business.
{{{{Peanut}}}}
This was so awful for you and Peanut both! Especially with it coming so close to great grandma passing. Tell her Aunt Sand loves her and she cried for her Sparkle too! I can't imagine losing Sampson or Dinner . . . and I know my darling nut won't take that well when the time comes either!
Oh Leslee! My cat died a similar death when I was little. I never did see "the body" but it stayed with me for such a long time. I still remember the look on my daddy's face when he had to tell me (no doubt mom was in the next room bawling!)
Poor Peanut. Poor you. My thoughts are with you both. : (
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