Well, if this hasn't been a sadder day than I expected.  Our Boo-Kitty passed away today after having gotten very sick, very quickly.  I've been surprised by how sad I've felt, and even more surprised by my man's very real grief over losing our pet.  I've said for years I wouldn't mind it when he died -- no more inside pets for me, but that's not exactly how it worked it out.

I'll spare you the whole history of our life with Boo, but we've had him almost nine years.  It was early in that first year that he lost one of his front legs after Jamie had backed over him on his way to work one morning.  After the amputation and the hip replacement, Boo became an inside cat.  He did everything he had always done and his quality of life was not compromised until the past couple of years when he had to slow down due to arthritis.  Sometimes we'd look at Boo lying on the couch or propped on a pillow on our bed and we'd say, "Life's good if you're Boo!"

Jamie and Boo had a special bond.  Boo talked to Jamie and they understood each other.  It sounds very weird, like we're cat-people, to actually say that we communicated with Boo.  Trust me, we are really not animal lovers at all.  That's why Boo was so special!

When I saw Boo Monday evening after Parker's choir banquet, I knew something was wrong.  The next morning he was still just so very still and quiet.  That afternoon, the same.  It's funny how you can tell it's the end, and we decided we'd put him down today.  The girls had a chance to say good-bye to him and Jamie actually laid down with him for a while th is morning.  I had the appointment scheduled for my conference period; he made it to the vet's office, but he passed while I was filling out the paperwork.  I brought him home and we buried him in our yard this afternoon. 

Because I'm a sort of twisted person, that yard fertilizer commercial keeps popping into my mind today.  You know?  The one where the fertilizer works so well it resurrects the family pets that have been buried in the yard.  I kind of wish that could happen...

Anyway, pets are important to families.  We've had a variety of pets come through here over the past 19 years, but Boo stuck around the longest.  He was constant.  He was a good cuddling cat who learned early on that I was good with him lying at my feet, but that's all.  He had a routine.  Jamie had taken to calling him "Old Man" because he had seemed to age quite a bit the past couple of years.  The girls have all been too rough with him at one time or another -- especially Lilah in her crawling phase and even Molly who carried him by his tail when we first got him.  He loved them dearly, though.  Parker often put him in bed with her while she fell asleep.  He really was a member of our family. 

As Jamie placed him in his little grave this afternoon, he said (through tears), "We loved you, Boo."  And, we did.