My sister Corri and I typically watch reruns of older sitcoms in the afternoon: Still Standing, Grounded for Life, My Wife and Kids, and 8 Simple Rules. The latter in this list of sitcom gems were the episodes that were filmed immediately after John Ritter's death. I'd never seen the first part of the two-part episode where Kate (Katey Segal) gets the phone call about her husband's death.
I cried through the whole thing. In fact, I cry an awful lot lately.
Jericho, my 17 year-old cat, has hyperthyroidism. Lately he's been doing weird things, like sleeping in a spot where my sister's old cat used to pee a lot, and laying down in the litter box. I remember Dinah laying in the litter box before we had to put her to sleep. It has freaked me out.
You see, Jericho, with his illness, has gone from an almost 20 pound cat, down to eight pounds. The vet says he's not sufering and his illness is being controlled by the medication I give him every day. I'm taking her at her word, because the truth is, not only am I not ready to lose my furbaby companion, I cannot bring myself to put him down. I am hoping that God will take that decision out of my hands and that when it really is Jericho's time, God will grace me by just taking him in his sleep. I simply cannot make that choice. I can't do it. I've done it once before for our family's dog, and it about killed me.
I've cried and railed to God that I'm not strong enough to do it for Jericho. I'm not a good steward of this wonderful gift of my baby boy if I can't be strong enough to release him when the time comes. And that time is coming. I know it. Every time I think about it, I'm reduced to tears.
So today, while watching 8 Simple Rules, I cried some more. I cried for the loss of John Ritter, and of the character he played on the show. I cried for Jett, the cat I lost three years ago. And I cried for Jericho, knowing our time is growing shorter.
I guess I don't understand why God created our pets to live shorter lives than ours. It almost seems cruel. But part of me thinks it's so that we can love many animals in our lifetime. It's the only explanation that makes sense.
Maybe there is no sense to be made of it and it simply is what it is. Our pets don't have souls, but they do have spirits. I know we'll see them when we die. It just seems like such a long time before that will happen, but I guess there is a time for everything.
Ecc 3:1-4
There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every affair under the heavens.
A time to be born, and a time to die;
A tine to plant, and a time to uproot the plant.
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
A time to tear down, and a time to build.
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn, and a time to dance.
Right now, I choose to dance, with just a little mourning and weeping from time to time.
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