In Mourning . . .

I cried so much yesterday I could barely put my contacts in this morning. In addition to our cat dying, a good friend is moving (Whitt--see what you're doin' to me? LOL!), and we've been shouldering a lot of stress as we deal with the foster care system. (Now, before you say, "I told you so," please know, "we told ourselves so, too." It's still sometimes hard to manage--no matter how much you plan, prepare, expect, etc.)

At any rate, it's not too much to handle, too much to bear. But it has been unusually hard on us.

All of us.

Even the pets.

See:

Ozzy and Harriet take solace in a chair after learning the news about Sebastian-Cat. (And yes, we keep indoor furniture outdoors. Don't ask.)

And even our neighbor Chelene's cat stopped by to pass along condolences. (Photo taken this morning at 5am.)

Truly, this was a little Twilight Zone for me. You see, the cat's been "M.I.A." for over a year. We had thought that another neighbor semi-adopted Chelene's cat, but we were never sure. Then this morning at 4am, I got up to let the dog out--and cry some more--and in came running Chelene's "long lost cat."

I'm so-not-kiding--for the first 20 seconds I thought it was the ghost of Sebastian-cat.

Then once I got the lights on, I was even more spooked. How could a cat we've not seen for a year come for a visit on the first night our cat is GONE?

That's just plain odd.

Don't you think?