Friday, March 26, 2010

What a Day!!

First I have to say it feels strange in my house today!! I’ll explain this later!


Some days are just to be remembered as one event after another. Wednesday was such a day for our family.

First thing I over slept, either I didn’t set my alarm or I cut it off and went back to sleep. This is something I haven’t done in a very long time. I spent most of the morning with our cat, Fluffy, who has been sick since late November. She was diagnosed with abdominal cancer the first of December. There have been many ups and downs during the months since. Wednesday morning it seemed she wouldn’t last through the morning.

Afternoon came and I went to pick my son up at school. On the way there I noticed a side street was full of cars so I turned on the radio. An 18 wheeler trailer had been left at a storage facility and when they became suspicious of the trailer, police were called to check it out. The dogs checked the trailer and there was a possible explosive so the area 1 ½ miles around the facility was being evacuated. My mother lives in the evacuated area!!



At this point I’m at the school the traffic is worse than normal. They had a crew cutting down trees at the entrance to the school which slowed traffic some. Then as I got to the parking lot there was another crew of workers digging up the parking lot! Just a side note the pot whole has been there for years but suddenly there is a need to dig it up at 2 in the afternoon, school gets out at 2:15. Finally we got out of the parking lot. I told my son about what was happening. I then called my Mom’s neighbor to see if they really were evacuating the neighborhood. No one answered! I called my Mom, she had no idea anything was going on. She said she saw someone in the driveway but didn’t go to the door. Another side note a house was broken into by people claiming to be Census takers (a few miles away) so we had told her don’t go to the door unless you know them. I told her what was happening and she said, “COME GET ME”. We get in the car and go over and the road is closed about ½ mile from her road. I told the officers where my mother lived and they said are you sure she is still at home. I explained to them that I Just talked to her. He said to go get her and come back out the same way as quick as possible.



We then went to get my daughter from school. Came home and my mother is worried about how long she may have to stay there. We have no bathrooms in our basement and Mom can’t go up the steps. It wasn’t long until we heard that the road had been opened up and people could return home. My son and I took her home, while my daughter stayed with Fluffy.



My son is starting this week volunteering at a local animal shelter and he had to go Wednesday evening. We rushed home and ate and off we went to the shelter. On the way there while stopped at a light, two fire trucks turned in front of us, my nerves are on edge anyway then the fire trucks I told my son I may just stay and wait on you. I changed my mind and went back home on the way home a CRAZY lady ran 3 red lights, not sure what her emergency was. When I returned home my husband was just getting home from work. He didn’t know anything about the evacuation so I explained all of the afternoon events to him. Went to get my son and nothing happened! We sat down together and watched TV for a little while. At about 10:30 we were deciding where Fluffy would sleep. She has been sleeping in my son’s room the past few weeks. Since she wasn’t doing too good, my kids decided they would sleep in the room with her. About an hour later my son came to tell me that Fluffy was gone! We all got up and sat there crying. We had Fluffy for 8 years and 9 months. Her sister, Jaguar, died in August. This is really hard to loose both of our cats in less than a year. So going back to my first statement it feels strange in my house today, no one to meet me at the door when I come home, no one to scratch on the bedroom door if I don’t get up on time, no scratch at the bathroom door wanting a drink from the tub. We have so many wonderful memories of our cats and our kids growing up with them. My son has had Fluffy for half of his life. Fluffy was what he wanted for his 8th birthday!



I know there are many who will say it’s Just a cat! But if you have ever had a pet for long you will know that you grow to love them.
   Fluffy
  June 25, 2001 - March 24, 2010
   Picture taken Dec. 8, 2009

5 comments:

Greta Koehl said...

I'm so sorry to hear about Fluffy (what a beautiful calico she was!). Our cats are like family members to us, and it's so hard each time we lose one. As for all the craziness, there seems to be some odd sort of spring thing going on here, too; can't figure out what is getting in to people.

Leah said...

Oh Harriet, I'm so sorry about your cat! I know how difficult it is to lose a pet. People who say "its just a cat!" are people that have clearly never had a cat before, otherwise they'd know better. My condolences to you and your family.

Harriet said...

Thanks Greta and Leah! My kids have both said how strange it was to come home from school and not have a cat to go pet. We have gone from a two cat family to no cats in just a few months. I agree Greta she was a beautiful calico, I have always said she was the prettiest calico I've ever seen.

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Oh My Goodness Harriet, What a day you had! So sorry about your losing your kitty. Fluffy was a gorgeous cat . I'm so very sorry. It's hard enough to lose one kitty --but two in less than a year. How sad.

Your experiences throughout the day were crazy, weren't they???? I also heard about that dog in Chattanooga who ate the police car bumper... What's going on in your fair city????? ha

Hope you have a good weekend...
Hugs,
Betsy

Harriet said...

Yes Betsy the dog eating the police car bumper was another crazy thing going on here. We thought it was a little strange that he only went after the one police car when there were others there. It really did look like he was playing.