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Cat funerals.
Mar. 29th, 2004 01:06 amMy cousins have a cat. Properly, I guess I have to say that they had a cat. There was an Incident today which led to the cat's demise--it played in the road one time too many. I don't mean to sound as if this was humorous at all--it was quite sad, actually. The kids were distraught for a while (but.. they live in the country--it's not the first animal that's left their life unexpectedly, so thankfully they weren't broken up about it for too long.) The cat has followed my cousin to my grandfather's house before, and no one has paid much attention to it, but today everyone was remarking on what a sweet, pretty cat it was, and then suddenly it was no more. I wish I could get the dead parrot sketch out of my head just now; it feels somewhat inappropriate.
The thing is, the incident DID become funny, after the fact. Not the cat's death, of course, but the funeral. Angie (cat owner, mother of two of the children) and Shannan (mother to the other, Angie's sister) very properly held prayer over the cat, which was laying motionless on the porch, having been carried there before being taken away for burial. Standing in a circle, holding hands, they said their prayers and began the eulogies.
Shannan: China was a nice cat. The last time I saw her, she was being held and loved on just like a baby.
Angie: China was a good cat--the best cat we had. She loved to play.
Devon (age four): [pausing, staring contemplatively at the cat]. China is dead. We can't play with her no more cause she got runned over.
*giggle* We were sitting inside when we heard wailing from the porch and then the abrupt dispersal of the funeral procession. They couldn't laugh at the little guy, of course, so they were trying (badly) to fake crying. The kids, at least, fell for it.. perhaps it even helped them to see that the adults were moved to tears by the cat's death. I don't know. It was extremely funny, though. Maybe you would have had to have been there.
I may have helped them get over their grief somewhat, though. I sponsored a little craft party.. we decoupaged some old AOL CDs with pictures from magazines. They weren't very good, for the most part, but they seemed to have fun with it. There was also an episode involving glue that ended up squirted all over my mom, but she was good-natured about it so all's well that ends well and all that.
I came home with a horrific headache, though, but it finally cleared up and I've spent most of the evening tatting. I'm working on a hankie now. It should be interesting.. this is the first one I've done. Tomorrow I guess I need to get back to work with Mosaic Minds. I've been thinking all along that I had to have it ready by Monday night, but I realized this morning that April 1 is Thursday, not Tuesday. I got two extra days! Which is nice, particularly since I was already budgeted to get done tomorrow night. :)
The thing is, the incident DID become funny, after the fact. Not the cat's death, of course, but the funeral. Angie (cat owner, mother of two of the children) and Shannan (mother to the other, Angie's sister) very properly held prayer over the cat, which was laying motionless on the porch, having been carried there before being taken away for burial. Standing in a circle, holding hands, they said their prayers and began the eulogies.
Shannan: China was a nice cat. The last time I saw her, she was being held and loved on just like a baby.
Angie: China was a good cat--the best cat we had. She loved to play.
Devon (age four): [pausing, staring contemplatively at the cat]. China is dead. We can't play with her no more cause she got runned over.
*giggle* We were sitting inside when we heard wailing from the porch and then the abrupt dispersal of the funeral procession. They couldn't laugh at the little guy, of course, so they were trying (badly) to fake crying. The kids, at least, fell for it.. perhaps it even helped them to see that the adults were moved to tears by the cat's death. I don't know. It was extremely funny, though. Maybe you would have had to have been there.
I may have helped them get over their grief somewhat, though. I sponsored a little craft party.. we decoupaged some old AOL CDs with pictures from magazines. They weren't very good, for the most part, but they seemed to have fun with it. There was also an episode involving glue that ended up squirted all over my mom, but she was good-natured about it so all's well that ends well and all that.
I came home with a horrific headache, though, but it finally cleared up and I've spent most of the evening tatting. I'm working on a hankie now. It should be interesting.. this is the first one I've done. Tomorrow I guess I need to get back to work with Mosaic Minds. I've been thinking all along that I had to have it ready by Monday night, but I realized this morning that April 1 is Thursday, not Tuesday. I got two extra days! Which is nice, particularly since I was already budgeted to get done tomorrow night. :)
