Dear Readers, it is a very sad day today in our household. It is always heartbreaking, if you have beloved pets whom you have cherished and cared for over the years, when the time comes to say goodbye and send them back to their Creator. This is such a day for my husband and me.
Sharing a few photos, while looking back and remembering happier days, when Ben and Blackie were both young and healthy. They came into our lives when we were living two hours' drive north of here in another town. As stray cats living in the neighborhood, they were captured, neutered, and released back to where they were found. Ben showed up in our back yard first, three or four years before Blackie. Somehow they knew we were safe people and they adopted us, living on the back patio. Putting out food and water helped, of course! I could not bear to abandon them to a questionable fate when we moved to our current home in 2014. So I figured out a way to bring them with us, and turn them into strictly indoor cats. After about a month, both had adapted very well and enjoyed their new lives. And we enjoyed loving and caring for them.
Ben was about 16 when he began suffering the ills of old age and he left us in March of 2023.
Today it was Blackie's turn.
We are so grateful for the mobile vet service, Paws into Grace, that will come to your home to euthanize an ill and dying pet. Both cats, having grown up in the streets, still retained elements of the feral behavior, and the stress of having to be caged and taken to a busy, noisy clinic when they were so old and so ill would have been too cruel.
We said goodbye to Blackie this morning. She was such a sweet natured little cat, and we are already missing her terribly. Lots of tears. I am not ashamed to say so.
Before I sat down to write this post, I realized that today is exactly three years, three months, and three days after Ben left us. Seems like that ought to mean something, but I don't know what.
Goodbye, sweet little furry friends. We thank God for the joy you brought into our lives.
You will never be forgotten.
Oh. I'm so sorry. I do sympathize with you. I cried many tears when my 17 year old tabby died. They become such a part of our lives, dont they,
ReplyDelete“Sweet little furry friends,” indeed. Little reminders of their presence in our lives are everywhere: They roamed the house freely and we’ll likely be looking for them around corners and in their favorite places for some time. Your Tribute is heartfelt and lovely. My Tribute to you is the beautiful life you made possible for both them. Such Love.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry. I'm teary reading this and remembering all the tears shed when we had to do the same. They do become part of the family. You loved them both so well! Hugs!
ReplyDeleteOh, so sorry for the loss of your sweet furry friend. So hard.
ReplyDeleteSara, I hadn't been keeping up with your blog and came to paste my reply to your note about that book with Hebrew (It's an English translation from original Hebrew manuscripts of James, Jude, and Revelation with the Hebrew text on one side, English on the other, and a ton of notes and references. Roomie and I are working our way through Revelation this summer.)
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry about Blackie. Ben and Blackie seemed to be good friends despite both having feral beginnings. How sweet that they had thoughtful caretakers to love them to the very end. It is good to think of them now cared for by their Creator, who mentioned His thought of animals in that last verse of Jonah. He does care. Hugs to you both.