All cats go to heaven

Today, our dear cat Wiley passed away. We are stunned and saddened. Wiley was staying at our local kitty condos while we are on our two week family vacation. The owner checked on him last night before closing and he was fine. This morning, he was simply gone.

I cannot believe that this has happened. Wiley was my first pet on my own. I adopted him from a litter of kittens that one of my sister's friends found. He was fiesty from the start. From the very beginning he loved to chase anything you would throw for him, especially balled up post-it notes. He would even "fetch" them and expect you to throw them over and over again for him to chase.

When Wiley was just a few months old, I remember him cuddling up with me on the couch as I cried my heart out over a broken up relationship. It really felt like he was trying to comfort me. Years later as I lay on my couch in the weeks before Miss H was born, he would curl up next to my belly. In recent years as my life has gotten busier and more complicated with two small children, Wiley has definitely taken a back seat. Every once in awhile when he would venture out during naptime or in the evenings, he would still climb up in my lap for a little cuddle. Mr. Rose told me that he read an article stating that petting a cat could lower your blood pressure. I remembered this through the four months that Mr. Rose was gone and frequently rubbed the back of Wiley's head while trying to fall asleep at night.

Now, my husband and I face the difficult job of explaining why Wiley is not coming home from his "kitty vacation" to Miss H who has no concept of life, death, heaven, or the hereafter. The best advice I have received on this so far is to simply be honest with her. I am not looking forward to that conversation. This is the last thing I want to do on our vacation.

Well look at that. I just poured my heart out, and I wasn't even planning it. Linking up with Shell at Things I Can't Say for Pour Your Heart Out.