Blog of Doom » Family and Friends

It’s over

Michael — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 01:50:25 +0000

We got the phone call over dinner that Tiberius is dead. He was doing alright earlier in the afternoon, but died in between their visits.

Please Don’t Leave

Michael — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 01:06:20 +0000

I felt a warm gentle fire once.
At first a small warm spot
It spread to cover me with love
Gave me a capacity I didn’t know of.

You moved around hesitantly, little paw
feeling ahead over any gap.
Not quite seeing what was in front of you.
Your eyes were broken but we loved you so very much
We laughed at your little paw feling ahead of you
Not cruel laughter, it was the laughter of love
How much we loved you, doing your silly little things.

Now you’re sick, lying down, trying to breathe
You don’t understand, you just miss your mother’s touch
You miss snuggling with your sister. Now you think
about a far land where you were once happy.

She comes to see you every day. Warm, soft hands
show how much you are loved. I hope this is what you
think about. We miss you so much, lying alone
with no one you know around you. My heart breaks for my little one.

It was you, little one, your warmth
You who expanded my capacity for love
That irrational math that fills a space even as you pour it out and empty it.

Please, little one. Please don’t leave.
I know this life is painful, but I love you
and I’m so very selfish
Please come and sit on my lap again.
Purr and make me warm and calm.
I’ll love you back, I promise. Just like
I did when you were here before.

Hopes Dashed

Michael — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 18:11:27 +0000

Hopes dashed. I went to the vet to pick up Tiberius and she brought me in to an exam room to talk about his case. Last night and into today he’s been developing something called FIP. It stands for Feline Infectious Peritonitis, and turns out it is even deadlier than Feline Distemper. He’s going to stay in the hospital over the weekend, and we’ll have the results of blood tests. But, he may not survive until Monday. I was forlorn when I heard this. I went home quickly to give Anne some time to visit.

They close at noon today because of the New Year holiday. I stayed home and tried to keep my mind on other things. I finally broke down and cried when Anne got home. I was so distraught. They will give us daily calls on this status. Anne said he was doing worst now. She gave him one chance in a hundred. We’re now not even sure he’ll make it until Monday. I went back to work but I’m not really able to do anything constructive. I don’t know what to write about now, either.

For now we wait and hope some more.

Trip to the Emergency Animal Clinic

Michael — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 19:30:24 +0000

I guess it wouldn’t be the holidays without an emergency visit to the vet. Tiberius is pretty sick and rather than wait until Monday, I had to take him in to the emergency clinic today.

… Just saw the vet and it’s bad. Tiberius is dying and we have to see how bad he is and whether he has any chance. I’m not going to just abandon him, even though the vet things it’s a hopeless case and we should euthanize him now. They’re going to do some lab tests and then we’ll see where we are.

… Lab tests confirm he has Feline Distemper. We’re going to give him treatment. That means supporting him while he fights off the virus and trying to make sure he doesn’t get something else, because that is what usually kills cats with Distemper, the secondary diseases they can get when their immune system is knocked out.

I wasn’t happy with the attitude of the vets. It seemed like they were just going to give up on him, and were hinting that he needed to be put down even before they ran bloodwork. The technicians were much more compassionate. But i suppose that’s the usual way of things. Nurses are usually more empathetic than doctors, in my experience.

Morgan’s Birthday Wish

Michael — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 04:13:40 +0000

This weekend Morgan was talking about his birthday. He’s been asking for a soccer ball for months, and we’re telling him he’ll get one if he’s good. (Translation: he’ll get one.) However, this time when I asked him what he wanted for his birthday, he said “Giant Robot”.

What can you say to that?

1. Giant robots are expensive to buy and expensive to maintain.
2. Giant robots are big and tend to cause damage to buildings, like our house.
3. Giant robots are noisy. We still regret getting you that kazoo and that drum.

New Family Members

Michael — Wed, 20 May 2009 23:11:30 +0000

We got two additions to our family, and we’re working on a third. Last Sunday I was getting ready to mow the back lawn when I saw a small black and white kitten in the bushes next to our shed. I called Anne over to look at it, and heard another in the bushes while we were talking. Soon after, we saw their mother dart away. She’s a grey shorthair who’s been hanging around recently. Very cute, and doesn’t seem to be feral, just abandoned. We’ve been trying to get mom to come inside, but I think it will be a long time if it happens at all.

Meanwhile, the two kittens are in the house making Morgan and Gus and Juju go insane. We have to watch Morgan especially because he’s likely to hurt one of them accidentally.

Pictures coming soon.

Old memories of living in England

Michael — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 01:45:13 +0000

When I was in high school, my mother sent me to England to live with my aunt and grandmother. She wanted me to have a better education, she said. I’m not entirely sure if that was the true reason, but there it is.

I was on a website for D&D which had a map of people looking for players. It was set in England, so I tried zooming in to Cumbria, the place I used to live, and found it was thoroughly mapped by Google. So, I went on a little trip down memory lane of my year and a half in Cumbria.

View Cumbria in a larger map

What’s the story about shampoo?

Michael — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 23:05:29 +0000

Last week I was going shopping and on the list is: shampoo.

A quick look in the bathroom once again confirms that we have no less than five shampoo bottles already. Being the diligent husband that I am, I ask what about all this shampoo we already have?

That’s when the yelling starts.

I got some shampoo at the store later that day.

They’re cute when they’re groggy

Michael — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 01:46:54 +0000

So, last week Morgan was sick and I had to go get him from school and take him home. Luckily, I didn’t lose any time at work. He had a fever and was coughing up a storm. Just so everyone knows, he didn’t have any symptoms that morning. He was up and at ‘em and ready for school.

We kept him out of school on Monday as well because of his coughing, and he’s been somewhat tired this week, lying down on the couch and just going out like a light around 5:00 p.m. or so. I get him up at 7:30 to take him to bed. He’s so cute when he’s groggy.

Elementary School Early Release — Why?

Michael — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 12:41:24 +0000

I have no idea. I only know that they’re releasing the elementary students early so I need to make sure I’m home at lunchtime to meet Morgan’s bus.

A lot of the time you can look at the school calendar and see why there’s no school, but this time there’s no reason given.

Also I need to really make sure I’m there. Once I didn’t know about it so nobody was home when the bus dropped him off, which they didn’t. They took him back to school and called me so I had to go meet him.

Ugh….