Saying Goodbye

Just hours before we left for camp this past Summer, one of our cats, Garci, died. With no time to mourn, we were on our way. Arriving home after a fun week, the kids were uninterested in any sort of formal goodbye, so were given space to mourn in their own way. It was a time of mixed emotions, with tons of summer fun amid feelings of sadness and loss. 

This week we face another goodbye. Since Garci's death, our other cat, Lola, has been acting out, doing things from hiding under chairs and attacking the kids' legs to soiling beds and baskets of laundry. Her playmate gone, she seems overwhelmed with the activity in the house and restless without her companion. Deemed a behavioral and perhaps environmental issue, we had to do something. 

Then came the conversation with my doctor. With my ability to fight infection greatly lowered by Remicade and a cat who wants to inappropriately "adorn" her favorite spots, such as our beds, I was advised it would be best for us to rehome the cat - for my health, and for her happiness. After numerous phone calls and finding a very kind woman willing to help us find her a home, Lola will soon be moving to her new family. Her new environment will be a better fit for her need of quiet attention. 

The kids have had time to prepare for saying goodbye this time. From what we've learned we should be receiving an occasional email update from Lola's new family, so our minds and hearts can be at ease that she is safe and well and happy. 

I, for one, will miss my beloved Caregiver, my Unconventional Teacher. It may, perhaps, be most difficult for me to say goodbye. As I talk with the kids about the sadness and pain that can be associated with goodbyes, I need to remind myself as well that those feelings are ok. That it's ok to be having a difficult time with this. That for-the-best isn't always easy or only joyful.