Maren's Response

Well as expected Maren had a hard time with the news about our orange cat. I picked her up from school and took her to Sonic for hang-out time. I waited until we had chatted for awhile and finished most of our snack before breaking the news that Milo had died. Then she climbed into my lap and we cried together for a long time.

She has been sad at night several times, but I think we have done the best we could to work through our loss. She hasn't mentioned it at school, so I think that means she has a good perspective most of the time. Nighttime is the hardest, but thanks to Aunt Whit we have a stuffed orange kitten that Mare and I have been sharing back and forth depending on who needs it more. Maren's own kitty should be arriving in the mail tomorrow.

The first night, she and I sat down together and wrote a letter for him. We printed it out and attached this picture, along with a tuft of fur we found that evening. It turns out Milo was more spirited than we gave him credit for, as evidenced by the size of the battleground. You go, kitty! I hope you gave those coyotes indigestion.

Here is Maren's letter:

I met Milo when he was a kitten. We had so much fun playing with him. I remember flashing the laser pointer so he could chase it.

Whenever we visited on vacation, Milo was here. When we moved into this house, I got to pet him every day. And he was always sitting by his food bowl, when he wasn't sleeping. I loved that I could say hi, and he would meow back at me.

Milo's fur was so soft. I miss him.

by Maren
October 10, 2007