A Sad Day In The House Of Rae

Yesterday was a very sad day for us.  In the morning we got a call from a vets saying that Brooklyn, our 10 year old cat, had been dropped off but was DOA.  She went missing over a month a go and we did everything we could to find her but it looks like she had wondered a long way from home.

I wasn't going to post an actual photo of the dead cat but Shona caught this great shot of one of our new kittens checking out the funny smelling thing on the table.

So after school we went out to the garden and dug a grave.

The girls reactions were very different.  Charis needed to be cuddled a couple of times during the process.

Whereas Seren was excited about digging a hole but sad at the same time but wanted to smile for the camera but was too sad to smile properly.

After burying the kitty and saying good bye we marked the spot buy planting and oak tree, placing a candle on the old stump and sticking a spinny windmill in the ground.  

It's funny that the ritual and significance of meant different things to our 3 children.  Our Invisible Son wanted to put the windmill in the centre of the grave but this upset Seren so much we had to move it to the side.  She saw the stick of the windmill as sticking into Brooklyn and hurting her somehow and was unconsolable until it was moved.  Invisible Son realised that death is death and there was no way to hurt Brooklyn anymore.

Anyway, we have two new kittens to replace the unreplaceable Brooklyn which are about as cute as any thing can be.  But goodbye Brooklyn, we will miss you...