RIP Remus and Pearl

I feel like the worst parent and pet-owner in the world. We don't know exactly what happened, but our best guess is that last night Ollie was outside playing with the kitties and put them in a cooler that was on our back porch waiting to be rinsed out. It was one of those bigger coolers with wheels. As far as I can guess, Ollie probably thought it would be fun to pull the kitties around in it like a wagon. At some point the lid shut with the kitties inside. No one knew, and we didn't find them until this morning.

I know Ollie doesn't understand, and can't really comprehend what happened. The kids are upset. Lincoln is the one who found them. At first they wanted to be mad at Ollie, but we had a talk about how Ollie doesn't really know the difference between a live kitty and a stuffed animal one, and that it was just a very sad accident. I feel terrible about it. I don't like cats, but that doesn't mean I wanted this to happen. Ours were fun to watch stalk each other through the tomato plants and they left me alone for the most part. And I loved to watch the kids play with them. They made the kids, especially Adelia, so happy. I've had pets die before, but not like this, and I seriously feel so guilty...like I should have watched Ollie more closely, or realized that the cats were missing sooner. It's just a really unfortunate, horrible, accident. I can't even imagine what parents must go through whose kids get stuck in hot cars. The emotions over cats were bad enough.

I called Aaron at work, and he came home for an early lunch break and we buried the kitties behind the shed. The kids wanted a headstone, and told me what to write on it, "Here lies Remus and Pearl our best kitties. August 1, 2016" I cut a bouquet of zinnias from the front yard, and each kid placed one on top of the headstone and said something nice about each cat. Then Adelia decided to bury the stems so the flowers would stand up around.

I know in the grand scheme of things, and all that's going on in the world, that the death of two little kittens is a small thing. But to my kids it's a big thing. It's their first real experience with loss and death. I posted the picture above on Instagram, and had so many kind comments from people, no one was harsh or judgmental. We had a sweet friend bring over a monarch caterpillar chrysalis to cheer the kids up. Another good friend and neighbor brought over the world's biggest balloon and all the fixin's for s'mores. People are good and kind and thoughtful. I am so grateful as I watch how these little acts of service cheer up my kids.