Good Mourning

It's been a week since we said goodbye to Oliver. Already. Gees, time goes by too quickly these days. 

Instead of burying him we had him privately cremated and I picked him up last Friday. Having him home again gave me some comfort, even if it was in a box. Sad face. I kept the box close to me while I worked and I'll admit that I even slept with it that night I brought him home. It's strange maybe, and I can't explain the reasoning behind it other than I really miss him and needed some kind of physical connection to him. Right now he's still on the table by my bed where no doubt he'll remain for quite some time. 

I've been comforted by watching videos and looking though some of the many photos of Oliver, feeling so thankful that I took the time to take them in the first place: 

I cannot handle the cuteness of Oliver as a kitten.

if you're wondering, yes, he loved eat corn on the cob

The doctor left one of those "So Your Pet Died" books and although I originally kind of poo-poo'd it I read it the day after Oliver's death. It made me cry (because pretty much anything did that day) but it had some good tips about remembering your pet. One section asked questions that you could answer that would help you remember your pet like, "How and why did you become your pets owner and companion?" While searching through a hard drive for photos I came across a Word doc in which I had written memories of our other awesome cat, Charlie. Reading through them made me laugh (and cry) but I was so happy that I had it to come across. I haven't written anything about Ollie yet but I will. 

I lucky to be surrounded by so many people (in real life and online) that care about me and have expressed their condolences. People that I don't have to pretend not to be sad around, that I can talk with openly, and who'll just let me do my thing, even if it's just sobbing into the phone unintelligibly (Thanks, Kelly).  My thanks to all of you, you've made a difficult situation a little bit easier.