Dec 14 2007

Losing A Family Friend

Published by at 1:50 pm under All General Discussions

This has been a hard year and half at the Strata-Sphere home. A year and half ago we lost a long time member of the family – our Cocker Spaniel. As those who have checked my bio know we have two groupings of kids. The older two just now branching out on their own, and our twin girls now in 2nd grade. The Cocker was the childhood friend of all four, but mostly the older two. We had two cats at one time – one passed many years ago. Sadly the other passed this afternoon.

All our pets live long lives – well into their teens – which is just an indication of the love they get form our kids. So their loss is all the harder to take when they have been with you for so long. We have a new puppy now for the twins to grow up with. They also have fish and a bearded dragon (we don’t get attached to the food for the dragon). I suspect the puppy will be strangled in bear hugs for a few nights when the twins learn the loss of our latest family member.

I will miss our dear cat. She watched over our children and kept them company at night, snuggling in bed with them (only the cats have been allowed in the bedrooms). Hopefully she is now in a better place, back playing with that Cocker.

9 responses so far

9 Responses to “Losing A Family Friend”

  1. Army Mom says:

    I am sorry for your loss AJ. Pets are simply angels who are here to keep reminding us that love is unconditional and without words.

  2. crosspatch says:

    It’s hard, AJ, especially for the ones who grew up with the animal. But in time the memories will bring smiles rather than sadness. All the best to you and yours.

  3. clarice says:

    I am a new cat owner, and I love her so I can imagine how hard this is for all of you.

  4. kathie says:

    Strata family…I’m so sorry. What a blessing to have had her for so long…so many memories.

  5. lurker9876 says:

    I am so sorry to hear about your cat. I’ve at least a sixteen year old cat that has chronic kidney disease and IBD. She’s being treated for these two problems and is doing alright. But we know that her days are numbered.

    I agree with Kathie that you are blessed to have had her for so long and that she had a great home with you guys.

  6. ivehadit says:

    Oh AJ, I am so sad for the passing of your dear angel. I, too, had two cats that lived to 18 and 20 years of age. Had to put both of them down. It was awful. My heart still aches. I considered them two of my most treasured things of my life. You and your family are in our thoughts…

  7. SallyVee says:

    You did exactly the right thing and the smart thing for everyone involved, getting a new puppy. And since the word is out in Cat World that you are a “friendly,” I have no doubt that a wonderful kitty in need of a loving home will make its way to the Stratasphere in due time. Cats are like that… smart, highly intuitive, and very persnickity about choosing the perfect family to own.

    When you give us these glimpses of your life AJ, it’s easy to see why you are such a well balanced, kind, decent, and “normal” guy (normal is my highest compliment these days, with all the fanatics, conspiracy nuts, and old time snake oil salesmen crawling around these days). It’s frustrating that the “Abby Normals” — think Marty Feldman’s swirling eyes in Young Frankenstein — have seized control of so many microphones, blogs, journals, and other political venues, giving the impression of vast numbers way beyond reality.

  8. AJStrata says:

    Thanks everyone for the great comments. We rescued this one from the pound 15 years ago and we are probably going to make a trip back there again sometime after the Holidays.

    You folks are the best!

  9. ivehadit says:

    Great post, SallyVee.