Jack the Cat

Our striped kitty Jack.

Today my children said good-bye to their kitty, Jack. This was a good kitty. Lots of personality, lots of spunk and quite adventurous, which is how the cat got the name Jack, like Jack Sparrow!

The real surprise was on us, when only a couple of weeks ago did we notice Jack was a Jackie! Jack was just 6 months old, so while the cat's life was short, it was great. She brought us a lot of laughs, particularly when she would knock in her pitter-patter way at the door to come in! We are dog people and had never really given cats a chance. The kitty was given to the children and we immediately learned what a hoot a cat can be!

The hardest and saddest part of the day for me was not saying good-bye to a sweet kitty. I'm a grown woman and know that pets come and go throughout our lives. What I didn't know was watching my children say good-bye would be such a heart-breaker! Watching them realize how quickly life can be snuffed out was dreadful, just dreadful. How I try to protect them from all kinds of things, and yet I was unable to spare them this hard lesson... so out of the blue. Fortunately for me, my dear friend and neighbor L. was home to help me with a very nice kitty burial. The things our friends do for us....

After all the good-byes the girls felt a chocolate cake was in order and here's what they came up with...

So long Jackie, thanks for the laughs.