SC, I remember you telling me about the many kindnesses from your former landlord. So sorry to hear about her tragic end.

Klyd, I feel for that little girl, but at four, children are amazingly resilient. We had a cat before the girls were born. She was not particularly friendly and probably resented them as an intrusion, but they loved her. However, they wanted a dog. Knowing how nasty our cat could be, we told them it would be a terrible idea.

When the girls were 8 and 12, Kitty had repeated seizures. The vet said that she had thrown a clot and recommended putting her to sleep. We did, and then brought her home to be buried in the woods behind our house. The girls were sobbing their little hearts out during the funeral, and it killed me to see them taking it so badly.

They dried their eyes while we walked back to the house, and then said, "Now that Kitty's dead, can we get a dog???"