Ray's blog

We had a sad morning. Last night we took our cat, Snickers, to the cat hospital. They kept her overnight, and this morning we went back to see her. The cat doctor, Dr. Raab, said she wasn't getting better. Dr. Raab said that because Snickers was so old she probably wouldn't ever get any better.

Let me tell you a little bit about my Mommy. She is strong. Not just her muscles (Dad says, "I wouldn't mess with her") but in her mind, too. She also loves animals. All kinds of animals, even snakes! (Yuck!) She loves Guinea Pigs and mice and of course dogs and cats -- pretty much every kind of animal except spiders. And she especially loves our animals, Pepper and Cinnamon and Snickers. Even though they are so annoying sometimes, she loves to talk to them and pet them and play with them.

But when Dr. Raab said Snickers wasn't going to get any better, Mommy didn't think about herself and how much she loved having Snickers around. She thought about what was best for Snickers, and even though it broke her heart, she asked Dr. Raab to give Snickers some special medicine that would send Snickers to heaven and take her away from us forever. And then Mommy cried, alot. (Hey, I said she was strong, not made of stone.)

Dad says there are too many people in this world who are looking for the easy way to do everything, and only thinking about themselves. Well my Mommy is not like that. She does the hard stuff when it has to be done, even when it's not what she wants. Like this morning with Snickers. Or when she uses that suction thing on my nose when it's stopped up (man I hate that!).

Mommy says Snickers was about 16 years old! (I can't even imagine being that old!) Mommy got her when she was just a little kitten, only about six weeks old. So they had lived together a very long time. I know Mommy misses her terribly.

But our day did get better as it went on: I got to go on my first real estate showing! Mommy showed a house to my Cousin Amanda's boyfriend (he is really old -- he must be like 20 or something!) and I got to go along! I really liked the house. It had a BIG kitchen with nice cabinets and a high ceiling, and it was on a beautiful, peaceful five-acre lot. I thought about buying it myself but I would need a 50- or 60-year mortgage and I think that would be hard to find. Especially since I don't have any income.

After our showing we all went back to Japan for dinner. Mommy ate her dinner with two little sticks! It was actually pretty impressive! Dad says they invented the dinner fork for a reason. I had a bottle.

Then later we went over to Uncle Wayne and Aunt Mary's house and sat by the campfire. I can't figure out why they are always camping in their backyard when they have a perfectly good house, but I guess that's what they like to do. I think they go inside to sleep, though. Anyway my Aunt Mary held me and I got to see my Cousin Emily (she is so sweet!) and, except for coming home smelling like smoke, we had a very nice visit.

And now I'm exhausted. I'm going to bed.