Back in the beginning of September, my partner took a spill in our kitchen and dislocated his ankle and gave himself a lovely compound fracture to boot! (no pun intended). There was a pool of blood, an ambulance, some fireman, a short hospital stay, multiple trips back and forth to Reading, PA and 2 surgeries involved in that situation. Luckily, our first floor has a sofa bed, a full bath and an easily accessible deck (I loathe you tobacco!) because he is non-weight bearing and is likely to be for some time to come.
He is doing much better but he is bored - because even when you love the Philadelphia Eagles as much as he does, there is only so much Philly Sports Talk and NFL network one can watch! (but never fear - "Gold Rush" starts on Oct 14th!).
But that isn't all of it....
The day before the big fall, we had taken our cat, Boogieman to vet as he just hadn't been himself for awhile. The Vet recommended we bring him in for IV fluids - which I did, so both my 'boys' were in the hospital at the same time. They both came home the same day, too, but Boogieman came home on hospice.
At first he was eating and drinking and doing well, but then it all just stopped. I knew it wouldn't be long - but for the man with the leg - well, he tried really hard to help out the little guy, but in the early morning of October 2nd, he was gone.
Now - my folks aren't really pet people (although we had a menagerie of critters growing up) but both of them are NOT cat fans. But bless their hearts, they helped me find a lovely spot in one of the special gardens and helped dig a hole for a burial. I can't tell you how much that meant to me. Yes I know it's a cat - but that cat was with me for 16 years! It becomes something different when an animal has been in your life for that long.
A night or two before his passing, he was laying in our bed and I was petting his paw - I knew he was in pain, but I wanted him to know he was loved - and when I went to move my hand away, he grabbed onto my finger with his paw. A moment of joy in the sadness because he let me know he was being comforted.