Lenox (Feb 1994 - March 16, 2007)

Our cat Lenox died on Friday morning. The kids were at school and Steve was on his way home from being out of town all week. We are all heartbroken. It has actually hit me much harder than I would have ever expected. My poor husband was so upset and I think it was harder for him because he had been out of town for so long. Stevie and Alyson were absolutely devastated...poor Alyson was inconsolable for a bit at first. Seeing Stevie's face when he heard the news and then to hear Aly crying so hard and just saying his name over and over...that is just something I am never going to forget. She kept saying "but, I didn't know it was his last day!" I feel angry at myself that he was all by himself. He was just laying there as if he were going to take a nap. My neighbor was kind enough to come over and wrap him in a towel for me because I just couldn't bear to do it - I couldn't even be in the same room while she did it. We all said goodbye to him later that night once Steve was home and while I thought seeing Lenox would be hard for the kids it actually seemed to help. They made cards for him to say goodbye and ask God to take care of him -- in Stevie's card he asked God to make sure he got 3 small meals a day :) We buried him Saturday morning on the side of the house just outside our master bathroom window and I ordered a Mickey Mouse birdbath to place there since our crazy cat was crazy about water.

It seems weird to say but the house seems quieter without him and just sad. I wish I had stopped and been a little nicer to him that morning instead of rushing past him to get the kids out the door to school. I can't help but feel guilty. I miss having him run in front of me on my way to the shower every morning...who would have thought I would actually miss THAT?!

I confess I would sometimes roll my eyes when I would see how attached some people were to their pets...and here I am...one of those people. We are so sad around here right now and just miss him. Neither Steve or I seem to want to clean up his food and water dish although I guess we will have to do that soon enough.