of loss and love

We had to make a hard decision this week; we had to put our ten-year-old cat, Kramer, to sleep.  It was difficult and sad, and in the throws of grief I proclaimed that I would never get another pet.  As the week went on, our sadness lessened.  Yes, we still miss him a lot.  We still look for him in the sunshine or snuggled up on the back of the couch.  Lily Mae, our two-year-old cat has been looking for him and calling to him, which makes all of us sad.  Still, as our grief has ebbed away, we've enjoyed sharing our funny Kramer memories.  It became clear to all of us that although it is terribly hard to deal with his loss, we wouldn't trade our time with him for anything.  So while we adjust to the idea of being a one-cat-family, and get used to not seeing our Kramie around, we know that we will be able to open our hearts to another animal some day in the future.