My dad died a little over two months ago. I have been too wrapped up in sorting out his affairs and memorial, my own feelings about him and his passing to talk with my kids about their feelings, his death or death in general.
I’ve given it lots of thought, but until recently hadn’t put those thoughts into action. Mostly because I didn’t know how to have the conversation with them.
We have had Merlin, our orange tabby, ever since we got married 12 years ago. He was the runt of the litter and turned into a 15lb big cat. He wasn’t a fat cat, but he was long and definitely bigger than our calico cat. He survived a fall from our fifth floor balcony and spent the night curled up inside the engine of our property manager’s van to keep warm. He travelled with us through four moves and put up with two children and today we had to put him down. Continue reading