A terrible, horrible, no good , very bad day

Last night, Saturday night, while we all slept peacefully, our sweet, wonderful, weird kitty Max died. Max was actually Joey's kitty and all the kids are devastated. Hell, I'm pretty damned torn up over it too. Even now, almost a day later, I can't type this or look at his picture without starting to cry. I know it may seem weird to some of you that I'm getting this upset over a kitty's death but my animals are all part of my family and an unexpected death hurts. I was a little concerned about Max on Saturday night because he was walking weird but I thought he had just injured his leg. Now, despite his young age, I think maybe he had a stroke. When I got up this morning, I found Max lying on the floor right in front of the food and water bowls. When I saw him so still, I knew immediately he was gone. See, Max was never still. He was full of energy and even when he snuggled up for some petting and love, there was an ear twitching or you could hear him purring. I knew without considering it that Joey would just be crushed and I didn't want him to see Max sprawled out there. I also knew I couldn't hide Max away from him. So, I found a box and a towel and put him in there like he was sleeping. It was so very hard to go in and tell Joey what had happened. Seeing Joey's pain was just as hard as knowing a loved pet was gone. Since Max died peacefully, I asked the kids if they wanted to see him. Marty wanted to see him but couldn't handle being to close. Joey and Gabe both did. In fact, Joey wanted one last chance to hold and pet Max and to say goodbye. He was so torn apart by losing his kitty but it was so important to him to be able to say goodbye and to take care of Max one last time. And Gabe, poor Gabe was a mess.  I know he was aware of things when my FIL passed away 2 years ago but, for the first time, Gabe fully grasped what death means and it was so hard.


There were very few things I was glad about this morning but, there were a few. I was and am eternally thankful that Gabe and Joey did not get out of bed before me as they frequently do on weekends. I would not have wanted Joey to find his kitty. I was also very thankful that today was Joey's family party. It gave Joey something to look forward to despite him tearfully saying "I just don't feel like it's right to be happy or have fun today." The party also meant my parents were coming up and, that gave me an opportunity to help distract Joey from his grieving. See, Max came from my parents house (his mom was a stray that got dropped there) and there just happened to be a few kittens at their house currently who needed a home. Joey desperately wanted another cat immediately, not to replace Max but to give him a warm, fuzzy, kitty to love and pet. So, my parents brought Butterball up with them when they came for Joey's party...
So, although the tears still come and we all wish Max was still here with us, this cute little fuzzy guy is helping to distract us.

And, to add insult to an already shitty day, my BIL's father died this morning too. Due to a convoluted and screwed up family history, my sister Keri's husband John only found his father 3 years ago. Very recently, John's dad became extremely ill and John had flown out to California  to arrange for his dad to come back home with him. Sadly, John's dad died before he could ever make the trip east.  My heart is just breaking for Keri, John and their girls.