Saturday, October 17, 2009

a tragic occurrance



i started to label this event as an accident, but i'm not much inclined to believe in them. there are so many things that happen in life that we deem accidents that we really have a hand in without recognizing or admitting.

my son, the sweetest boy on earth, is responsible for our pets. i have warned him repeatedly to close the lid on the cat food container. two weeks ago he forgot. again. only this time, the consequences were far more horrible than either of us would have imagined.

athena, our tortoise shell cat, apparently jumped into the container, and when she did, the lid slammed down. we came home hours later to a suffocated cat. and alex knowing that he had unintentionally killed his own pet. life teaches some incredibly difficult lessons.

6 comments:

Amanda said...

Wow! that is a hard lesson for anyone, let alone a child. I don't know what to say except my best wishes to you both at this difficult time. And I agree with you that this event will somehow prove invaluable at a time in the future. That is the gift our pets often give us, I know mine have, more than once.

Abigail Thomas said...

oh my thats awful!

Kim Printz said...

thanks for writing, both of you. it was a very difficult situation for my son -- and for me. one reason i posted about it, other than the emotional release, is because when i blogged about athena before i got a lot of responses. seemed like the right thing to do. thanks again for your thoughts.

Amber Leilani said...

we have a tortie whom we just adore - and is in to everything. we constantly have to keep an eye on her. i almost cried when i read this post! i am so sorry for your family's loss. it's so sad when it takes a death to remind us to be watchful of all that which surrounds us.

Carol said...

Oh, I'm so sorry too, for all your family but especially for your son. What a dreadful way to learn the lesson. I'll give our cat Luther an extra cuddle tonight in sympathy.

Sherry Pierce Thurner said...

Oh, my heart hurts for all of you. Without boring you with a personal story I'll just say that I did something a couple years ago that led to the death of our beloved calico cat. It's hard to know you did something the hurt a beloved pet.