Saturday 11/12/2010

Finally got my colour printer working with new inks. I got a little upset again as I printed and trimmed the picture of our little Molly. It is attached it to the card from Rossendale that accompanied her ashes. It now sits with her casket where we can look upon her.

Tuesday 7/12/2010

It has now been 4 weeks since we lost our little Molly. Time doesn't heal the pain but it eases it. We got the Christmas tree and the decorations from the loft at the weekend, ready to celebrate yule. This, our first without her since she came into our lives in 1995 will be difficult. Molly loved walking with her tail up (as she always did) just close enough to the tree to rattle a few baubles and occasionally knock a few off! We think she loved to do that to hear the rustle of the tinsel and the tinkling of the ornaments. Sarah hung some of the ornaments on the lower branches this year in honour of our girly. When I get the colour printer working again I will print a little picture of her and put it under the tree among the snowflakes and tinsel.

On her little casket is a leaf, something she always enjoyed chasing. Molly was never a "birder" it always seemed beneath her to chase them, I put this down to the tutelege of her older brothers (except Kit, a shocking birder in his youth!). Besides, being as bright and white as she was she might as well have had a big neon sign above her saying "Here I am birdies"

We still miss you our little Molly Twitchett. Enjoy chasing leaves in the forest until we join you and all your brothers at the Rainbow Bridge.

Friday 19/11/2010

We've just got in and It's a bittersweet blog I write. We've brought our little girly's ashes home in lovely casket with a shiny nameplate emblazoned with her name Molly Twitchett. Our little Molls is resting in our sight until we decide on a final place for her in our lounge.

We still miss you Molls and always will. Sleep peacefully until we meet again at the Rainbow Bridge

Forever in our hearts

Wednesday 17/11/2010

Just got in from work to a letter from the wonderful people at Rossendale Pet Cremetorium to let us know Molly will be home with us on Friday! We have a place for her little casket of ashes in our lounge.

Tuesday 16/11/2010

It has now been exactly one week since we lost our little girl Molly Tabitha Twitchett. As the week has gone on the pain and grief that so wracked us in the wake of her loss has subsided some, but there is still a heavy weight in our hearts for our little bright white girlie. For the first time yesterday, myself, Sarah and Sarah's mum were in the kitchen together. It felt odd as there was someone missing., our little Molls. It still felt empty without her big personality filling the room.

Kit is slowly adjusting to life without his little sister. He feels it keenly at night when we are all settling down to sleep. He is now having to divide his time in his busy schedule of eating, sleeping and going into the garden to spend time with us and Beryl. At the moment he is gracing us with his presence on the sofa.

We still miss you Molly and will only finally feel at peace when your ashes come home to us.

Sunday morning 14/11/2010

Sarah's mum came to see us as we lay in bed this morning. I still half expected Molly to follow her in, as was her habit whenever Beryl stuck her head round the door. Molly would come in and you'd see the top of her tail and after a quick poke around the bedroom she'd leap on the bed for a fuss. She'd scoot as soon as Kit appeared and jumped on the bed for a stroke too.

Saturday Afternoon 13/11/2010

Today would have been a day Molly loved as the sun shone in a beautiful blue sky and with a slight breeze it would blow leaves up our drive. She loved to chase the leaves and play with them.

We got home from Sainsbury's early this afternoon, we got a little upset just buying a small pack of chicken breast for Kit.Sarah cried because she said when she cooks it she'd only be filling one bowl now. I couldn't sit down so got the Dyson out and vaccuumed and Sarah put some washing on. As Sarah was putting the next load in and I was hanging  the previous load on the rack she came upstairs and said she swore she heard Molly's distinctive patter up the kitchen. Kit was out on his usual patrol round his patch. We both got upset again and I said perhaps she's just come by to let us know she's OK as she could see how upset we are.

With our chores finished we've been catching up on stuff recorded on the Sky+. Molly's bed, all clean and fresh and dry we've put under the rocking chair in the corner. Kit was curled up sitting next to Sarah, all of a sudden he looked towards the bed, got off the sofa and climbed in it. He circled a couple of times before settling in there! Perhaps Molly said to Kit before she was too ill that he could have her bed when she was gone. Maybe it just smelled fresh and he fancied a quick lounge in it. I'd like to think the former.

Saturday Morning 13/11/2010

Woke at 4.30 this morning thinking of our little girly. I dozed back off again and was awoken again at 5.40 by the sound of Kit meowing. He hasn't done that in a long time, it was always Molly's "job" to meow letting us know it was time to get up and give them a fuss and some food. Sarah's mum came down to see him. He got on her lap for a while and at the moment he is sitting on her footstool curled up where Molly would get. Of a morning after a fuss and food it was always Molly that stretched out on Beryl's lap first, resting her head on the arm of her chair If the newspaper had come, they would swap places and Kit would often sit on Beryl's lap reading it with her while Molly curled on the stool.

The pain has eased a little as we have consoled ourselves with the fact that our little Molly, after being looked after by the wonderful Rossendale Pet Cemetary, will be home with us soon.

We have another hurdle to overcome today, the weekly shop. Molly and Kit have a healthy balanced diet with senior cat food, fresh chicken and white fish (Cod or Coley from sustainable sources). Sarah and I always have a little joke about getting Chicken for "Chickens" and Fish for "Fiends" (our silly ritual in joke). today it will only be a small pack of fresh breast for Kit. I do hope we can keep it toghether in Sainsbury's. I'm starting to get upset just thinking about it.

Friday Morning 12/12/2010

Woke at 4 this morning with a thumping empty pain in my chest. Kit meowing at 5.20. He is missing his little sister. He still looked around when I fed him waiting almost for Molly to come. Kit wandered up the kitchen stopped and looked at where Molly's bed would be and went into my Mother in Law's room and called. For the first time in his 19 years Kit is an only cat.

There is a story in the SF series Babylon 5 called The Day of the Dead wherean alien race called the Brakiri mark the passing of those loved ones. Just for the one night some of the people that had a strong connection to the main characters reappeard to them.

I wish it would really happed because we could gather all our beloved pets together in our arms spend a night fussing them and tell them all how much we love them and how much we miss them.

The kettle has boiled and Kit has settled down...

A special thank you part two

I am in the throws of doing a music compilation and two of my compatriots sent me some wonderful words of support and comfort. DC sent the poem The Rainbow Bridge. I reproduce it below as a comfort not just to our little family but everyone in the world who is grieving for a family pet whatever the species:

By the edge of a woods, at the foot of a hill,
Is a lush, green meadow where time stands still.
Where the friends of man and woman do run,
When their time on earth is over and done.

For here, between this world and the next,
Is a place where each beloved creature finds rest.
On this golden land, they wait and they play,
Till the Rainbow Bridge they cross over one day.

No more do they suffer, in pain or in sadness,
For here they are whole, their lives filled with gladness.
Their limbs are restored, their health renewed,
Their bodies have healed, with strength imbued.

They romp through the grass, without even a care,
Until one day they start, and sniff at the air.
All ears prick forward, eyes dart front and back,
Then all of a sudden, one breaks from the pack.
For just at that instant, their eyes have met;
Together again, both person and pet.

So they run to each other, these friends from long past,
The time of their parting is over at last.
The sadness they felt while they were apart,
Has turned into joy once more in each heart.
They embrace with a love that will last forever,
And then, side-by-side, they cross over… together.

A special thank you

Yesterday afternoon as Sarah and I were pulling onto our drive, Tommy the cat from over the road was sitting on our front step near where Molly would sit, something he has never done before. It's as if he's somehow aware of our loss and come to pay his respects to our lovely little girl. This afternoon he was sitting on the back fence in our garden. A little thank you to you Tommy from all of us.

Coming home this evening 11/11/2010

I've just walked home with the wind and rain beating against my face; I didn't feel any of it I am so numb. I walked up the drive and burst into tears because I knew that our Molls wouldn't be in the kitchen waiting for me. Her presence filled that room and now it's so empty. If we were messing around cooking or about to make a cup of tea, she would appear, trotting toward us with her tail up and then fuss round our legs. She always walked with her tail up with the tip slightly bent over, her big green eyes happy to see us even though she was only in the room next door with Sarah's mum. When she was poorly and she couldn't get to wash herself as well as she did before, we would use cat wipes on her and up her tail would go as if to say thank you for keeping her fresh. She was so white and bright! Both Sarah and I are grateful for the love and support shown by our work friends yesterday and today. I hope you are reading this.

Here is a picture of Molly and Kit in their beds taken 14/08/2010. Although she was little she had the biggest bed as you can see. Kit never complained he had to squeeze up in the smaller bed. Where Molly's bed is is where Kit was waiting for me this morning when I came downstairs. 

Thursday Morning 11/11/2010

It's a little after 5.30 and I've come down to make a cup of tea for myself and my wife before we get ready for work. I still open the door expecting to see a big pair of green eyes staring back at me as Molly is wating for me to come down. Kit is always the slow one to get up. I came down and opened the door and found Kit sitting on the spot on the blanket where Molly's bed was. I didn't think I could cry anymore I am so tired but as I type this the tears are streaming down my face. Last night Kit kept looking up the kitchen expecting Molly to come trotting down as I fed him. Cats do mourn too as well as humans. They do it in their own feline way.

The loss of our beloved pet cat Molly

This is my first blog/tweet and I want to share some sad news that I'm sure all animal lovers will understand. Yesterday evening Tuesday 9/11/2010 our little cat Molly had to be put to sleep after sharing her life and love with us for 15 years and one day. She turned up on Monday 6 /11/1995 as a 3 month old kitten. I called her Molly but canvassed my village to see if anyone had lost a little white and tortoise shell tailed kitten. No one came forward and she became part of our little pride of cats and fitted straight in. She got the nicknames "little white lightining" for the way she dashed everywhere and Molly Twitchett for the way she used to dance on her hind legs and twitch her tail at us for attention. She fell ill the beginning of September with a bowel problem that with treatment we thought we had licked. It was only the symptom of a much more serious problem, an undiagnosed lymphoma. She became acutely anaemic and in the space of a few hours deteriorated rapidly. We rushed her to the vet who said how ill she was and we had her put to sleep. In the last couple of weeks she'd been much like her old self rushing everywhere and twitching her tail, which makes it all the more heartbreaking for us. We miss her so much our hearts have such a heavy weight on them. Her 19 year old "brother" Kit (the last of our once 7 strong pride) keeps looking for her and it's breaking our hearts. We love you Molly, St Francis please keep her safe with the rest of her brothers until we meet them all again at the Rainbow Bridge.