Sad Day

We are down a family member. It has been an ongoing battle, and definitely a tough decision, but we ultimately had to say goodbye to our cat Jack.

I realize this may not seem like such a tough decision, and anyone who knows Jack would probably say that it's about time! Trust me, there were days - numerous times we thought that as well. We had Jack for almost 5 1/2 years, and he was a big part of our family.

Dave and I got him from one of my co-workers when he was just a kitten. This occurred after only 8 months of marriage. Jack was our baby back then, and has continued to be "Baby J" or "Jack Jack" since. Unfortunately (and fortunately), we then got a puppy a year and a half later. That may have been one of the best things we did. Jack and Sadie got along great...for the most part. It taught us a lot about Jack, and ourselves, "raising" these two kids.

In a lot of ways I think it helped Jack prepare for Olivia. He was very protective of her and knew very quickly that she was part of the family. Jack has been very protective of his family. To a fault occasionally. Over time, we went downhill somewhat though. Jack became territorial (of Olivia's room) and swatted at her twice - never hurting her, but still... Thus we arrived at the heart-wrenching decision to "send him to the farm" as it were.

It has been a trying day to say the least. I believe it was best for Jack, as well as the rest of our family. It was perhaps in part our fault for not giving him as much attention, but at the end of the day, human baby girl trumps cat. I feel okay about our decision. My only concern is what will happen if he doesn't get adopted. My sincere hope is that he will and that he'll have another family that will love him as much as we have. Despite his quirks and flaws,  Jack is also quite capable of giving tremendous love.

We will miss you and we really do love you Jack!!! (I apparently only have the one picture I can add right now.)