Dora

A week ago Monday we lost Dora. She wasn't even 2 years old yet but such a big part of our family. The poor thing was a favorite bedtime friend of the Peanuts, though she never lasted long. As soon as someone relaxed his/her hold on her, she was outta there!

The night before she died I tried to prepare the Peanuts for her imminent departure. I thought I'd be taking her to the vet to be put to sleep so I knew I needed to tell them that she wasn't going to get any better and that she was going to die. I didn't want them to come home from school to find her gone and hear the news that way. I explained that she had stopped eating and I couldn't get her to take food or water at all. Without eating she wouldn't be able to live.

They were very upset but the Little Prince handled it pretty well. You could tell he was upset but stayed calm. In true Baba fashion he grabbed her food and told me to open her mouth. It was like trying to pry a python's mouth open. Or at least what I've heard it's like. Then he decided that he would open it and I would put the food in. He had no better luck than I did. Very stubborn cat. And I thought it was hard to get the Diva to open her mouth for medicine she doesn't like. Dora won hands down!

The Diva was beside herself. She ran to her room and I could hear her talking. I went in and she was pleading with Jesus not to let Dora die. Over and over again. The first time she prays for something other than the Lord's Prayer with me at night and it's for something I just knew she wouldn't get. Ugh! So we talked about it and we decided that we would ask Him to spare her, BUT...if He decided that she needed to go, then we wanted my aunt to have her. I explained to the Peanuts that she'd died at the age of 2 and never got to have a kitty. The Diva's response, "She'd have her forever?!" I explained that it would just be until we got there and could take care of her ourselves. The Little Prince asked if she would still be sick. I told him she'd be all better. That seemed to clinch it for him.

Now I know that there's no biblical basis for thinking that Dora would be in heaven. We can pretend there's a kitty heaven, but we know the likelihood of that. However I heard a wonderful segment on Issues, Etc. back in the early days of it's "rebirth" (I think with Louis Brighton, but don't hold me to it) about while we have no reason to think there will be animals in heaven, one day there will be a new heaven and a new earth and then we'll see them again. I love that! I want to see General and Little Gen and Bandit and other animals I've loved that I know have gone.

Monday Dora died on her own. I'd run to Beirut to take food to Aunt. I knew she might not make it until the appointment with the vet so I made sure I left Elektra inside with her. When I opened the door Elektra was agitated so I knew she'd gone. When I told the Peanuts that afternoon they took it in stride. They'd done their grieving the night before and given her lots of loving.

However, they are grieving. Friday night the Diva was upset with the Boss (a common occurrence) and just didn't stop crying. I asked her about it and she said it wasn't the Boss. "I want Jesus to send Dora back right now!"