8 lives elsewhere
Coming home from camping last weekend, we were greeted by cat feces in the family and living rooms. There was urine on baseboards. This, sadly, was not surprising to us. For several months now Dino, our larger cat, has been less than selective in his choice of evacuation locations. Often we have awoken to find stool on the rug outside the shower despite the fact that an unused litterbox is 3 feet away. The bottom of the bedroom closet door and some the baseboards around the house are permanently discolored.
After months of threatening to do so, Chris made the decision to return the cat to the Humane Society. We had the girls say their final goodbyes to him. Even though Katie was bawling, we doubt that either understood the true implications of sending Dino back to the “farm.” We weren’t about to the explain the circle of life just then. How do you tell an adopted child that your adopted pet annoyed you to the point that you were allowing it to be put to sleep.
Every adopted child, after realizing that they were once given up, wonders if it could ever happen again to them. Occasionally when Katie misbehaves she’ll, I guessing as a defense mechanism will announce she wants to go back to China. We reiterate weekly that a Daddy’s (and Mommy’s) love is unconditional and forever.
Unless, of course, you pee on the bathtub.