It's been a long day

I found out last night that my father caught a ride in an ambulance to a Des Moines hospital where he was to have his gall bladder removed this morning.  Just hours previous Jason found out that his father was in a Sioux City hospital waiting for his own gall bladder to be removed.  What are the odds that both my father and father-in-law would have the exact same surgery within an hour of each other.  Weird.

I got a phone call from my mom around 8:30 this morning that Dad's surgery went well and he was in recovery.  I found out from my mother-in-law that John is loopy from the pain killers, but otherwise recovering nicely.

On a different, but similar front, we had been noticing over the past couple of months that Callie (my cat of 17 years) had been losing considerable weight and was rather lethargic and unstable on her back legs.  I called the vet to see if I could get an appointment for today to get her checked out.  They could fit us in at 10:00 - I had 20 minutes to get the carrier found, put Callie in it, get the girls dressed, and drive to the vet.  I picked Callie up out of her cubbie - I didn't realize how skinny she had become over the past several months.   I put her in the cat carrier and there was not a bit of fight in her.  I knew this did not bode well for her prospects.  She gave me a few weak meows and then nothing until we got to the vet.

On the way to the vet the girls asked if Callie was going to have to have a shot.  I explained that it was quite possible that Callie may need to have a shot that would put her to sleep and she would never wake up. 

Breonna asked, "Would she die?"

"Yes, honey, we may have to put her to sleep so that she won't have any more pain, so yes, she may die."

The girls were very interested and curious about this shot that puts you to sleep.  There were assurances from me that they would never have this kind of shot.

After a couple of blood tests it was determined that Callie had acute kidney failure and there was not much that could be done for her.  At this point there were three blubbering girls in the examination room waiting for the vet tech to bring our kitty back so we could say goodbye.  We spent about 10 minutes petting her head and talking to her, telling her that we loved her and would miss her.  The vet asked me if I would like to be in the room when she was put to sleep, I declined.  The vet tech came back and took her and all I could say was "Goodbye baby." 

Callie was my first pet other than the outdoor animals that we had at my parent's house.  It was uncommon to have a pet for more than a year on the farm, so there was never a tight bond because I knew they would eventually be run over on the road, killed by another animal, or run away for greener pastures.  It was hard on me to lose her because I've had her since she was a tiny ball of fur, and I think it was hard on the girls to watch me in my grief. 

We brought her body home in a cardboard box and Jason and I buried her in the backyard when he got home from work. 

Goodbye my friend.  I love you.