Ideas please...............................

Since the passing of our beloved Cecil, our other cat Andy has been sad and lonely. I get that some of you non-cat-lovers out there might think this can't be so, but trust me it is.

Andy and Cecil used to spend hours laying together and grooming one another. Since Andy was the older cat, he did most of the grooming, along with teaching Cecil the ropes of our family. Now he is stuck with only us to love and pet him and for those of you that have lost a special someone you know this is just not the same.

If any of you have gone through this problem and have any ideas we might try to make Andy a happier kitty I would really appreciate hearing about them.

Of course our youngest thinks we should get a kitten. This sounds good in the moment, but practical ole' mom has to go beyond the moment to the cost and time investments a new pet creates. I do feel a bit guilty that Andy is out numbered by the dogs two to one, but not enough to give in to another mouth to feed. How much can a teenie tiny kitten eat one might ask? Around here, the answer is a lot, and again you are just going to have to trust me on this one.

The big problem with getting a new pet is time management. My youngest is already so busy she has difficulty spending quality time with the pets she already has. It isn't fair to throw a new one into the mix when you know it will make the quality time with the other pets suffer. That just is not a responsible thing to do, though we people tend to do it all the time.

Once upon a time (all those years ago), when Internet dating was just coming into vogue, I happen to be single so I gave it a whirl. I cannot tell you the number of guys that would write to me and feed me the line that, "Yes, they happen to be married, but were extreamly mis-understood by their wife." My answer to them was always the same: "Treat your wife like she is the most important person in the world to you for one entire month, and I bet she will understand you better. If not, write me back and I will consider talking to you further."

Interestingly enough I never heard back from one of them. I like to think they took my advice, but more likely than not they moved on to someone with similar views, as that is always easier than working to fix a problem. Having been a dumpie, as well as a dumper, I might not have space to talk about this. I prefer to think I have grown and come to see the error of my ways.

We live in a disposable society, where everything and everyone can be tossed into the trash. Things (and people) that we JUST HAD TO HAVE no longer hold any importance in our eyes. These are facts of life, and go along with change, which can lead to growth, if done right.

Yes! There IS a right way and a wrong way to move things (from a beloved pair of jeans to a significant other) out of our lives. One way is a selfish, rip and tear, don't care who gets hurt, I only care about me way. The other way is to do so with compassion, kindness, patience, and love. Think about how you would like to be treated if you were the one being ask to move along so that you might treat accordingly if you are ever the one asking for someone/thing to move along out of your daily world. Remember that one person's trash is another person's treasure, so treat your trash as a treasure to help it be so when it finds the way to the next stop on the journey. If you do a good enough job of this, you might just find some value you had not noticed in a while and want to hang onto it for a bit longer. Wouldn't that be great?