FOUR IN 2009
Thursday night our cat Sweet Pea was ailing in a terminal way. She's had kidney failure diagnosed a year ago. The sweet tough bird--so ugly she was fascinating to look at, her bug-out eyes made her look as though she were severely under the influence of some pernicious drug--lasted this long. The fetching wife and I bought her before the brood began arriving, shortly after our marriage in 1997.
Her brother, Willow, died suddenly, without warning five years ago. The other animal we had, before the children, died in the spring. Duchess, the regal and highly intelligent golden retriever, was a devastating loss for me when she passed away at home on March 11. I'm the dog person; my wife loves the cats.
We also lost a bunny, Eeyore, whom I sometimes would cuddle with when watching Michigan State football games. I think stroking him reduced my stress, which that program amply dishes out.
And my mother-in-law who also lives with us--breaking my Rule 13: to live at least one hour's drive from a mother-in-law--lost her nearly twenty-year-old persian cat, Delilah.
Four animals in 2009, as my wife said during our special Friday night family dinner. No more, she said. I agree. Luckily we still have the gecko, the large fish tank, the two turtles, the three cats, and the two dogs (well, one's the neighbor's but he lives here during the day and tries to avoid leaving at night). The menagerie continues. And the fetching wife is on the internet prowl at local humane societies for another feline addition.
Thursday night our cat Sweet Pea was ailing in a terminal way. She's had kidney failure diagnosed a year ago. The sweet tough bird--so ugly she was fascinating to look at, her bug-out eyes made her look as though she were severely under the influence of some pernicious drug--lasted this long. The fetching wife and I bought her before the brood began arriving, shortly after our marriage in 1997.
Her brother, Willow, died suddenly, without warning five years ago. The other animal we had, before the children, died in the spring. Duchess, the regal and highly intelligent golden retriever, was a devastating loss for me when she passed away at home on March 11. I'm the dog person; my wife loves the cats.
We also lost a bunny, Eeyore, whom I sometimes would cuddle with when watching Michigan State football games. I think stroking him reduced my stress, which that program amply dishes out.
And my mother-in-law who also lives with us--breaking my Rule 13: to live at least one hour's drive from a mother-in-law--lost her nearly twenty-year-old persian cat, Delilah.
Four animals in 2009, as my wife said during our special Friday night family dinner. No more, she said. I agree. Luckily we still have the gecko, the large fish tank, the two turtles, the three cats, and the two dogs (well, one's the neighbor's but he lives here during the day and tries to avoid leaving at night). The menagerie continues. And the fetching wife is on the internet prowl at local humane societies for another feline addition.
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