Our holding pattern finally came to an end, John was offered
a job in early May in Boston and a few weeks later our small apartment in
Little Rock was packed up and we were off. Just a week before the move, John and I went on a Caribbean
cruise for a week. We really enjoyed the trip, it was fun to spend a week
together in the sun before moving out to Boston.
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| Visiting Myao before we left for Boston |
Shortly after we got home from the trip, we noticed our
kitty was not acting normal. He was not moving much or eating, and started
breathing heavily. He had been well cared for while we were gone, but a day
after we got back we noticed he seemed a little off. We took him to the vet to
be extremely alarmed that he had very few red blood cells. It looked like his
immune system was attacking himself. Just for some context, this was the day
before the movers came to pack us up!
We visited our sweet Myao at the kitty hospital the rest of
the week, but his condition seemed to worsen. Ultimately Friday came and we had
to head to Boston without him. I would be back the following week after
Memorial Day for work, but it was definitely with a somber heart that we
arrived in Boston. When I landed in Boston, we had a voicemail from the Vet.
His kidneys were failing, and they were trying to get an IV without much luck.
This poor kitty was very sick.
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| He loved being held like a baby. |
When we arrived at the temporary apartment the company
organized for us, there was a kitty bed waiting for us in the living room. It was a little too much for me to
handle. I really struggled enjoying Boston that first weekend, because I felt
like we had left a key member of our family behind.
The following Tuesday came around, and I was back in Little
Rock. I made it to the vet, and oh, my poor boy. How he was suffering. At this point, the vet
told me he had a kidney disease that is sometimes hereditary in long haired
cats. His heart wasn’t contracting fully, and there was no turning back for
this guy. He needed to be put to sleep. John and I had been preparing ourselves for this over the
weekend, but this still was so hard to hear. Not our sweet Myao? Our full of
energy and love and snuggles Myao? The swing in his health happened so
drastically.
So I cried and cried at the vets. I had brought his brush
with me and I spent about 20 minutes just loving on him and brushing him. Even
though he was extremely weak, and could only lay on the table and not even purr
or stand up, I could tell he was so happy I was there and felt my love for him.
Whenever I would put the brush down for a moment, he would struggle his little
head to nudge it to encourage me to keep petting him.
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Finally, the time had come. The doctor brought in the
injection, and as I pet and held him he
drifted peacefully to sleep. I was so distraught the whole day, to say I was a
wreck is a major understatement. I made
arrangements immediately with John’s parents to bury him that evening in their
back yard The burial was simple. John’s mother and father and myself attended.
John wished he could be there, but it was just not practical. John’s father
read a poem aloud, and we said a prayer together. I wrote a sweet note to Myao,
and buried it with him. We planted a rose bush over his body.
As much as it was such a hard day, I felt so much peace
after burying him. It has been a few weeks now and I honestly haven’t cried at
all until just writing this out. I am grateful
to have had such a great friend in my life, and especially for the time we were
able to have with him even if limited. I am so grateful for my understanding of
the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and that I can find peace and comfort in hard times
through my understanding of life after death. I strongly believe that we will
be with this sweet little kitty again, and I find comfort knowing that he
received so much love while he was in our home.
Slowly I am adjusting to life in Boston. Our big challenge right now is finding
housing, but we are hoping to find something this weekend. Things are
definitely looking up, but we sure do miss our kitty. As John likes to joke – I
am sure he is in Heaven preparing our celestial home, and probably getting fur
all over it.
So farewell sweet friend, until we meet again. We miss you.
