We spent the afternoon preparing for our bringing Charlie to the vet to help him get to heaven faster. Which of course started with us explaining to Elisabeth that Charlie was very sick. He developed a very stubborn bladder infection, and was on antibiotics for a total of 5 weeks. By the end we knew it was much more than a simple bladder infection because our super-friendly-always-in-your-face Charlie started hiding and rarely came out. He didn't eat and didn't drink. So I brought him back to the vet for the 3rd time on Tuesday morning, and the vet said that his bladder is blocked and his condition was now very serious. We could keep him there for 4 days and they could remove the block and wait for him to get better, but because of the way he responded to the medication, he would most likely have the same horrible experiences in the future. Or, we could take the other horrible route, and accept that he had a happy life up until now and put him out of his misery.
Seriously? How do you make that kind of decision? I can't even type out the actual words for what we did. So, I will say that we chose to help him get to heaven a little quicker and to help him be happy and pain-free.
That is how we explained it to Elisabeth. She was of course upset. She knew what we were going to say before we even got to the part about heaven. I could see it in her eyes. That girl is smart. For a 5 (and a half) year old, she gets it. She gets life. I even think she might get death. And she chose to be there with us when we helped Charlie get to heaven.
We spent as much time with Charlie as we could yesterday. We pet him and hugged him and kissed him. Elisabeth grabbed the prayer shawl that Mark was given after his heart attack and placed it around Charlie.
And of course, the day wouldn't have been complete without at least one of our children messing with poor Charlie just a little bit...
He's always been such a good sport. God bless the poor cat.
Sydney is too young to understand fully what has happened, but she has shown us that she understands we are upset. In fact, when we first started talking and crying yesterday and each grabbed a tissue to wipe our tears, Sydney stopped dead in her tracks, her expression changed from happy to very serious, she grabbed a tissue as well, and did this:
We talked at great length about how Jesus would be in the room with us, holding our hands, and when it was time, Charlie's body would still be on the table but Jesus would take Charlie's soul (and Elisabeth added heart - because God is always in our hearts) and would lead him up to heaven. Before the vet came in, Elisabeth told Charlie to say 'meow' to God for us. We originally talked about asking Charlie to say 'hi' to God for us, but she was quick to remind us that Charlie can't actually say 'hi' but that God could speak cat, so it would work out perfectly anyway.
We said many prayers. We thanked God for a wonderful 8 years with our Charlie cat. We thanked God for making him so soft, so cuddly, and for making him such a stinker that he always managed to sneak outside.
He never got far whenever he got out of the house. Only to the garden, where he would happily plop himself down and relish the feeling of the plants under his body, the fresh air surrounding him, and the sun that warmed him. So that is where we will spread Charlie's ashes. It seems only appropriate.
I had no idea this would be so hard. He's a cat, not a person. But he's been a part of our family for 8 years, and today it is very weird to not have him here. As I walk through the house I will catch something out of the corner of my eye and think it's Charlie. I'm quickly reminded by the pain in my heart that it's not him.
Hopefully he is having a great time in heaven and was able to catch the kisses that we blew up to him as we lay in bed last night. You don't actually have to blow that hard - the kisses just seem to float through the air.
And hopefully he was able to say meow to God for us.
We'll miss you Charlie cat.
Charlie and his brother Jordan. One last snuggle.
Oh Erin, I am just in tears over this! Losing a pet is just as hard as losing a friend or relative. They are just like family - even though they aren't necessarily human, they still take care of us and love us. I am sure that Charlie knew he was loved and that you made the best choice for him. And I am very impressed with Elisabeth's maturity - what a great girl! God bless!
ReplyDeleteIt is so hard to say goodbye to a beloved pet. What you've done though, is the most loving thing for Charlie, you gave healed his pain. Just the sheer fact that you are so upset by this shows how much you guys loved him
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