Changes

The past week and a half my entire family has been adjusting to a new routine and way of life. I thought it would be a tougher adjustment on my oldest but it's tougher on me. For the first time, I'm not home. Instead I am at work. Granted my work is right across the street from my home at the elementary school, but it's still an adjustment. My kids are adjusting fine and me I'm enjoying the work with the kids and a benefit is that my youngest is at work with me. While she doesn't get me all to herself she does get time with me. Thursday while we were waiting for one parent to arrive she and I were working on an art project and giggling over our lame attempts to draw animals. While it might not be a ton of alone time it was a moment worth waiting for.

I'm also surprised at how easily our four-legged family members adapted. They willingly go to their crates in the morning for my oldest daughter so that she can get to the bus on time and then they willingly re-enter their crates when I have to go back to work in the afternoons. So far going back to work is working.

Thursday was a tough day but not because of me working. I had to make the decision to help end my 17-year-old cat, Leonardo’s life. Making this kind of decision is never easy even though I've had to go through it five times in the last two years. Unfortunately when you own pets close in age it's an inevitable part of life. Leonardo was the last of my three cats to leave this world and he had the roughest start in life. He was my hand fed baby and then shortly before he turned one he had to have a rubbery ribbon removed from his intestines. However from that point on he was a healthy cat, only visiting the vet for his yearly check up. In the end he succumbed to the same disease as my other two cats, kidney disease.

While the hardest part is making the decision to ease the pain of Leo, I felt terrible that I had to leave a note on my front door for my oldest daughter to come see me. She took it better than I thought. She didn't cry at that moment but I'm sure it started before she got home. I wished with all my heart that I could have gone home with her. Almost as hard as watching the last bit of life slip from Leo was holding back the news from my youngest daughter until we left school at 6 pm. As my daughter and I walked home I broke the news and we both walked home in tears. My youngest wears her heart on her sleeve and I knew this would break her heart. We're all sad but life moves on and we still have four dogs to care for and that makes the hurt a little easier to handle.

For me this is the first time in my life that a cat has not been in my life. And for the next few years we will remain catless not because we don't want another but because two of our dogs are just too cat curious. Though I will admit that I am more a dog person than cat, however I will miss scooping up my cat and snuggling him close and listening to his purr.

Until next time good writing.