To Remember Cheeky Monkey

We can't be entirely sure of the cause, but Cheeky Monkey got very sick very fast and the Prescod family - especially the children - is mourning for best pet cat that ever was and for the empty space that has been left behind in our home. Amanda really wanted to bring him home so he is resting in a special place in the backyard. Amanda & Kyle are both thinking of ways to make it really special come spring - a new tree, memory stones a bird bath - we'll come up with something. Even Kerwyn misses the little guy - he was getting used to tolerating him!
This is how we will remember him - a sweet little kitten who touched all of our hearts. Shy at first, then irrepressible and unforgettable.

I'm going to print these pictures for the kids and frame them.
This is their first real brush with personal loss - I hope that it strengthens them, deepens their appreciation for life and won't leave a lasting scar.
Me? I am suffering from the kind of guilt that only a mother can feel be punished with. I left my babies alone for a weekend and one of them suffers tragically. Intellectually I know that it is simply a cruel twist of fate, a cosmic coincidence. Emotionally - fate is twisting the plies too tight and the cosmos is a small double-edged blade working its way sideways through my gut.
Barkeep!! A bottle of your best and a skein of your even better.