Our Hearts Are Broken

We had to say good bye to our much loved cat, Tiger, yesterday.
We came home from church yesterday and Tiger was waiting at the door for us as always. We fed him and them let him go outside to play since it was warmer than usual.
He had been out for about 30 minutes.
Then our phone rang and it was our neighbor down the street, she never calls.
She called to tell us that her husband witnessed this teenage boy...who always speeds up and down our road...hit our precious little Tiger.
I was the only one that knew at first. Michael, Jarrett and Blake were downstairs in the den playing basketball. I looked outside and I could see Tiger laying over in the wooded area across the street from our house.
So I walked across the street and into the woods to see for sure if that was him. It was...it looked like he had just went over there and laid down. I just sat there and cried.
My next instinct was to go and let that boy have it! I did, but I was alot nicer than I wanted to be.
I got up and walked to that boys house, which is only 2 houses down from ours. His dad came to the door and I asked if I could speak to his son, Andrew. Andrew came to the door and I told him that I wanted to personally tell him what had happened. I told him that he had hit our cat and that he had died...and that if he doesn't quit driving so fast up and down our road the next time it could be a child!
I didn't even give him a chance to respond. I just walked back home.

Then...I had to go in the house and tell Michael what had happened. I asked Michael to come upstairs....and as soon as he saw my face he knew what was wrong. He said "Tiger?". He said he had a feeling something had happened to him when that lady called. Michael loved Tiger just as much as I did. He's not a cat lover...but he LOVED our Tiger.

We were not sure how to handle it with Jarrett and Blake. We knew they were going to be heartbroken. We decided it would be best to tell them the truth...not just let them think that he ran away. We felt like they needed to know the truth. We decided to tell Jarrett first. So when Blake laid down for his nap....we took Jarrett down into the den. We sat him down and told him. He couldn't believe it at first...then when it sunk in he just sat there and sobbed. He cried forever...or so it seemed. Michael sat and held him while he cried.

We told Jarrett we were going to have to bury Tiger. Jarrett said he wanted to see him before we buried him. Michael went and got him. Tiger looked like he was just asleep...no blood or anything.
Jarrett said he wanted to write and note and put it in the box with Tiger. So he did...his note said that we were going to miss him and that we loved him. Then he put some of Tiger's toys in the box with him.

We buried Tiger in our backyard. Michael made a little cross and put it at the top of the grave.

Then when Blake woke up from his nap. The first thing he said was "Where's Tiger poo" That's what Blake had started calling Tiger. So Michael picked Blake up and told him that Tiger wasn't here anymore and that he had gone to Heaven. We explained to him what happened...the best that we could. We thought about NOT telling him...just to let him think that Tiger had ran away. We weren't sure how to handle this....so we decided it was best to tell him the truth. Not to hide it from him. Blake didn't cry...he just asked us so many questions. Michael told the boys that we would go one day this week and see if we could find a new friend for our family. Not to replace Tiger....but to give us a new friend. We explained that Tiger would ALWAYS be a part of our family.
Blake said "I just want Tiger to come back."

I think that statement summed up the way we all feel.

Last night Jarrett and Blake slept together..for the first time ever...Michael and I felt like it was because they were so upset.

Today will be hard. When Jarrett is at school....Blake always plays with Tiger all day, it's like Tiger filled in for Jarrett while he was at school. Tiger was our little buddy.
Jarrett wants to go and get flowers to put on Tigers grave when he gets home from school today.
We are going to miss Tiger so much. He was not only our pet, but he was part of our family.
This is Blake and Tiger....a few weeks after we brought Tiger home. He was so little. Jarrett and Blake showing Tiger what Santa put in his stocking.
laying with me in my chair....being the lazy cat that we all loved =-)