I spent some time talking with my son last night. He described Savannah's last moments, as he held her to his chest like a baby. They have planned to have her cremated. Heather had selected a lovely hatbox, and Savannah and "baby" (her favorite toy) will be cremated and the ashes placed in an urn for them to keep. Heather actually went to work yesterday, probably so that she wouldn't see and hear Savannah every step she took at home. Stephen said they barely slept the night Savannah died. No surprise.
He also said that they wanted to wait a long time before getting another pet, which will probably be another cat. It's hard to imagine that when we first met Heather, she was scared of our cats. They'd always had dogs in her home. (Cattle ranchers have little need for herding cats!) But every one of our cats adored Heather, no doubt recognizing her loving, gentle disposition, and Savannah loved her most of all. That's why it was such a natural decision to let Stephen and Heather adopt Savannah when Simon was making her life miserable. And for the last several years, they were all blissfully happy.
The other day while I was in the arts and crafts store, my husband went to the pet supply store to get some more wet food for Simon. (There's only one brand he will or can eat without throwing up. Most of the time he thrives on his very expensive prescription-only dry food.) He visited the cats up for adoption, as we always do, and reported that there were two great calico cats up for adoption. I immediately wished that I could get both of them. In fact, I've been thinking that of all the cats we've ever had, our calicos (Bunny, Patches, and Calico) were the smartest and most fun. Bunny (the mother cat) was very intelligent and would help herself to food when she got hungry. No, she couldn't use the can opener, but she could root out wherever the bag of food was, turn it over, and eat her fill of what spilled out. Calico, the excellent mouser, was our longest-lived calico. Patches was the most beautiful. She was one of the "faded" calicos (I've forgotten what they're called), with the softest, silkiest fur imaginable. I've read that of all cat types, horses like calico cats as barn cats most of all, that the two species seem to get along really well. I don't know why calicos and not tabby cats, but maybe it's because calicos are nearly always female (the rare males are always sterile). They are also Maryland's state cat. :-)
Clearly, I have cats on the brain. What little brain I have left, that is, after all the allergy attacks I've had lately.
My sister is still in the hospital, still undiagnosed. They have gotten in some of her test results, but not all. It's looking more and more like multiple sclerosis. She says she's going to get to go home today, but when I talk to her, she's so addled that I can't really trust much of what she says. Sometimes it's her imagination talking. My heart is so torn by wanting to be there to help her and knowing that I'm not trained to help medically, and all I could do would be to talk, which I can do over the telephone. Right now, with my brother and his family on the way, I need to limit my goals to the immediate future.
The daybed finally arrived yesterday. The furniture store had called to arrange a delivery time of between one and three p.m. At 3:05, the store called again to report that they were running late and would be at my house in 20 minutes. It was nearly four o'clock before a pickup truck driven by a husky teenager arrived. He was able to carry in the mattress and trundle alone, but he couldn't do the daybed (it was still assembled). Fortunately, my husband got home from work and together they got the bed upstairs and into the guest room (with a little nick on the railing that looks bad). For this, we paid $70?!!! Since when do people pay for the privilege of doing it themselves?
I need to go to the drugstore to pick up toothpaste, mouthwash, and a sympathy card for my son and his wife. So I'll end with this statement: I've never regretted loving anyone or anything. I've only regretted NOT loving. I'm glad I had Savannah and loved her, and I'm glad Stephen and Heather got to love her, too. Yes, it's devastating when a pet passes away, but our lives are always so much richer when a beloved pet can be part of our world. So, Ellie, go get that calico cat! You won't be sorry.
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