We had a pretty emotional weekend at our house.
Yesterday morning I got up and drove over to our old neighborhood to do my run. As I was ending, I stopped at Kelly's garage sale to say "hey" and check on things when I noticed Chris had come and parked down the street by my car and was walking toward me. I could tell immediately that something was wrong. He motioned for me a few times and I went toward him he told me... he and Max had just gotten in the car to make a Donut Haus run and he hit Gary. Gary! Max's sweet, loving , easy going "brother". I could not believe it. He was dead. :( Awful.
Max was in the car when it happened. After realizing what just happened, Chris jumped out of the car to check to be sure. He told Max, "put that blanket over your head and don't look over here". I mean, I'm not sure but I think that in itself sounded pretty traumatizing! Dang, Chris! Anyway, he came to meet me so I could continue on with the Donut Haus breakfast and he could come back and clean things up before Max (or I) saw anything too sad or icky or terrible.
Chris sat Max on the hood of his car and told him the news. Max didn't believe him at first; "For REAAAAAAL, Daddy?". Then, "can I get a new kitty?" That was it. OK! Off we went to get donuts. Only that WASN'T it. On the way home from getting breakfast it set in; Max started SCREAMING. I'm talking he was in agony over poor, sweet Gary. (as he should be!) He couldn't stop. He cried the whole way home, he cried during breakfast, he cried when Chris showed him where he buried Gary, he cried the entire drive to the humane society. He even cried in his bed until 11pm for Gary. We could not console him.
Max at Gary's grave
I will admit, it was sad. I'm not one of those people who treat their pets like humans or as a big part of the family (don't scold me or look at me that way!), and I certainly never thought I would become attached to a cat! I've always had dogs! But Gary was seriously the best pet ever! He was a stray so he was starved for attention. He lived outside. Slept in our garage. Hung around all the time. Used the bathroom OUTSIDE. (no litter box to clean, people!) And LOVED to be held and snuggle. He will be missed for sure!
Awww... RIP Gary
With no time to waste, we headed to the humane society to get Max a new cat; to hopefully ease his pain a little. We looked at all the cats and chose about 5 to "get to know better". Max loved most of them. I didn't really love any. None of them were cuddly like Gary. They were timid and shy and did not want to be held. BOO! Max thought he had decided on one, Dipper, a tabby. Problem was, Dipper hadn't been neutered yet and Max was NOT waiting till Monday to get his new cat. That was too much to ask. So the search started again, only with spayed and neutered cats. We found a beautiful black and white short hair that was 6 months old. She was listed as being very playful, and boy was she! Max adopted her. He changed her name from Eclipse to Daisy (from Super Mario Bros.) and we brought her home.
Quick run down on Daisy: she's a chicken. Scared of every little sound. The first day she wouldn't leave the garage! She didn't even use the bathroom once, nor eat. Today though, thankfully, she did all of the above and discovered the bug-chasing joys of our covered patio, as well as the cushy couch and nice breeze. :) She is home. And isn't she pretty?
Miss Daisy
Max still misses Gary. The kicker to all this is that this is "bring your pet to school" month at Max's school. Each child has had a day assigned to them. Max is next-to-last and brings his pet this Wednesday. Go figure. WHY couldn't he have been assigned to last week? The sign up sheet says "Gary" but now it'll be "Daisy". Yikes. Sad. I hope he doesn't have to field a lot of questions from his friends that will say "HEY! That's not Gary!"
The weekend did take a turn for the better at Max's soccer game though! His best game yet playing up with the big boys. He got in there and kicked it and hustled and played great defense. I jumped outta my chair several times cheering. Yes, I'm going to be one of those embarrassing mommies who gets all crazy and into it. Whatever. I get excited, ok? We were really proud of him and after last week's shenanigans it was refreshing.
Now... we are exhausted. After riding the emotional roller coaster, getting less than quality sleep, and running around, we need to go to bed early and get ready for the week. And let me add, if you made it through this entire post and are reading this last sentence, I'm thoroughly impressed and you do not have ADD. :) Congrats!
