Sunday, June 28, 2009

A weekend of happies and crappies

On Saturday Devin found out that he passed his SE 1 exam and will receive his license. Now his title his Devin Riley, PE and he'll get his own stamp and everything. I told him he could stamp me (I really did). I'm so incredibly proud of him. He poured hours upon hours upon hours into studying for this thing (for over a year) and it paid off. He told me that it had a 48% pass rate. Yikes! It was so great to see him get the mail and run inside yelling "MARIE! I PASSED!" I've never seen him this excited about anything. Fun stuff.

The crappy thing is I just returned home from having Gus put down. His health had just deteriorated to a point where it seemed wrong to keep him around. Even though I am so, so sad to think about life without my lovable cat around, I feel so much more at peace because he's not suffering anymore. Gus really was a great cat. He used to come running to the door when we'd come home and lay smack down at our feet so we'd rub his belly. He also used to make himself at home on the laps of all of our guests, leaving a giant wad of hair. He was happiest outside sitting underneath one of our trees (where we'll bury him tomorrow). I am a little worried for Roxy. Gus was her companion. Just last night when he was laying lethargically near my closet, Roxy came over and started diligently cleaning his ears.

The people at the vet's office were incredibly kind and sensitive to me, even though I was bawling like a baby. The doctor who actually administered his shot didn't ask me a bunch of questions or make me feel like a bad person. He just said "I'm sorry" and gently explained what they were going to do. Gus had a lot of fans out there, that's for sure. Even though I've openly favored Roxy through the years, most of our friends and family liked Gus because he truly had the personality of a golden retriever. He'll definitely be missed. I'm sure he'll be waiting for us in heaven (because everyone knows God is a cat person). We love you Gus (Gussy Pie). Our house won't be the same without you.






6 comments:

Megs said...

oh i'm so sorry. pet's are so special....i'm frankly embarrassed about hom much i love my dog. that's sad.

Anonymous said...

Marie....First, congrats to Devin for all his hard work and determination. God is so good to honor our needs!

Second, I am so sorry to hear about Gus. What an incredibly handsome cat....sounds like a really big sweetheart. Know that you have done the very best thing for him...he is no longer hurting...and that is important! Take care my sweet friend...and God bless you!

Kari

Keri said...

Way to go Devin!!! He's such a smartie pants.

I can't imagine putting a pet to sleep, I haven't had to do that yet. It sounds like it was the best thing for him though. You must miss him so much. I'll have to tell Micah, he'll be so sad:) You know how much he loves kitties....

Eric said...

I'm sorry Marie! That sucks!

On the bright side, Gus chose quite an auspicious weekend to go. Can't you just see Billy Mays petting him while they wait in line at heaven? :)

jenifriend said...

i'm so sorry to hear about gus...i know i'll be equally bummed when my kitties have to go. take care darlin'!!

TerraGold said...

Aw Marie!! Both the happy and sad news brought tears to my eyes!! I love the image of Devin running in to share the great news with you first! That is so special. And it sounds like you did the best you could with a really tough situation. I know Dan will be sad not to see the fat cat next time we come to see you. Related to your other post--I don't think you can ever put a time limit on grieving for someone you love whether beetle, cat, person, or whatever!! Maybe it shouldnt interrupt your whole life in the same way that a close human dying would, but I'm sure there will be a part of you that is always sad to not have Gus around!!! Thinking of you :)