The Frame

Sunset
Josh and Kayla probably don't remember a time when we didn't have a cat as a pet. Kayla was three when Sunset was given to us by her grandparents around Easter of 2003. Josh was maybe a year old. So, we've had the cat for most of their childhood, at least. Sunset's arrival was prompted by the departure of two other cats. We hadn't owned a cat before Sunset, but there was a stray cat that hung around our apartment which Kayla liked to pet and spend time with. The cat turned out to be pregnant, and it ended up having its kittens under a bush right across from our apartment door step. Kayla was fascinated by the new kittens, of course, but we knew that they couldn't stay outside, and we couldn't adopt them. So, when we learned that one of our neighbors down the street rescued stray cats, we carried the whole litter, plus the mom, down to her apartment. And, that was how "Momma Kitty" left our lives. My father-in-law heard Kayla talking to her cousin, Alex, about the cats they had lost. Kayla told Alex about Momma Kitty, and Alex told Kayla about their cat that had gone missing. So, my father-in-law stopped at a pound with the intention of picking up a new cat for Alex and his family, but ended up picking out two cats. That's how Sunset became our pet. We lived in a two bedroom apartment in Shepherd at the time, so we didn't have a lot of room for a kitty litter. We also didn't want the kids to be messing with the box of litter, so we put it in our room. This didn't deter Josh, however, who managed to sneak into our room one morning. Theresa called me up at work to tell me that she had caught him "playing" in the kitty litter as if it was a sandbox. I don't even want to think about what else he might have been touching. Sunset has been with us for several Christmases and countless seasons. For a while, she was the elusive cat which everybody heard about, but seldomly saw. Then, she began to come out more when we had company over. I actually think that she relaxed a lot more over the years. Eventually, she would walk up to me and jump into my lap if I motioned to her. She often traveled with us when we visited my in-laws' house in Marlette. When we went on shorter trips, our neighbors the Hollidays would look in on her to make sure that she had enough food and attention. Over the summer, we noticed that she was losing a lot of weight. I took her to see the vet, but they couldn't find anything physically wrong other than the fact that she is getting old. They gave her a steriod injection to help her appetite, and we tried different foods which also seemed to continue to help. Last night, the kids said good-bye to Sunset. Theresa explained to them what might happen, either Sunset will die naturally or she will need to be put to sleep. They told her good-bye again this morning, just to be safe.

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The Frame
Today my wife has wrapped her in a blanket. She is sitting really still on the living room floor. My wife is upset about losing Sunset, and asked me how I could be so calm. I guess I am calm because I need to be, sort of like being a designated driver for friends at the bar. But, I am not happy about having to call the vet and make an appointment for when they will put her to sleep, driving her there, or even seeing my kids upset about losing the family pet. These are things that have to be dealt with one way or another. The bottom line is that Sunset brought a lot of happiness to my kids' lives. For Theresa and I, she was a good companion. I hope that Sunset feels the same way about us.

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