I just wanted to wish those of you that have regained some normality in your life a very merry Christmas and of course the greatest of New Years.

Those of you that are dreading the next couple of days i would like to let you know there is light at the other end, you will get through these days and then it will be two more 1st anniversary's over with.

Breath deeply, take each minute as it comes and dont think about the next minute till you are living it.

I really dont know how i did that first Christmas after loosing Sadie, we had family over too which really we could have done without.

but live through it i did and so will you, keep remembering to breath and smile and remember is the 26th is only hours away.

God Bless you all

Love Sue

Thank You & Merry Christmas to you as well. I have 3 other fur babies still with me this Christmas and their stockings are hung in furry expectations of Santa Claws...(get it...."Santa Claws")....

and a very merry christmas to all of you.
john that cracked me up!!

right now i am just taking it minute by minute..breath by breath.. this has been especially hard on me . i keep looking at the tree and hoping to see two pairs of eyes staring back at me becasue they know they shouldnt be under the tree..
but nothing..i two dog babies that cant wait for santa paws(as john put it..still cracks me up!!)

wishing all of you a happy new year . andi'll be thinking of all of you ...

luv
michelle

Merry Christmas to all of you also. I too, will be taking it moment by moment. I also dread looking under the tree, because I know that Scooter won't be there to look out from in between the packages. But, I am grateful for friends that I've met here, and grateful that I have four furbabies looking forward to seeing what Santa Paws (Claws) ha, has left for them. I'll be thinking of you all, this first Christmas. I wish everyone the happiest of New Years also.

Scooter's mom

I went on Thursday night to one of the local churches who were holding a Blue Christmas service. The service helps people who are coping with a loss, unemployment, despair, etc. I went because of the loss of my Jemima. The service included a candelighting ceremony for those who wanted to take part. I was talking to the minister afterwards about my loss. He was very sympathetic. He also told me this year when they had the Blessing of the Animals service someone brought the ashes of their pet to be blessed.

Sorry about getting off topic there but I wanted everyone to know by going to that service it helped as I was finally able to talk about Jemima with others. It helped me to acknowledge my grief and it's okay to feel this way.

Thanks for the encouraging words.I know I'll get thur the holidays but it will be hard without my baby Sox.We miss you,sweetie,and we think of you everyday.I hope everyone has a blessed christmas and please don't forget the candle lighting ceremony @ 10:00 p.m. I will be including all those names that were left on my post.I hope you will join me.It's a comfort to me to know that there will be so many others missing their beautiful babies tonight just as I am.May you all be blessed.......Sincerely,Renee (Sox's mom forever and ever)

This is my first Christmas without Zooey since 1990.

A couple of months ago i found it in me to open up my heart and provide a loving home for two kittens (brother and sister) who needed a home. They had been born in the cat hospital when someone brought in an ill, feral cat who unbeknownest to everyone, was pregnant.

I am grateful to have these two little furbabies running around the house, and they have made me laugh, and smile.

I am grateful for this site and the folks here, as they were here when I needed sympathy and empathy.

It isnt easy around the holidays, but Love is the answer. If you are truly an animal lover, as I know we are, I hope you will remember that there are many, many cats and dogs who need loving homes. You can fulfill that need, and make yourelf feel better in the process, too. Maybe by next Christmas you will be able to make new memories with your new, little furbaby. I will keep you all in my prayers.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas all.

Ive shed a tear today and had a pray.

1st Christmas witthout Meg after 15 xmas's together.

Seems wierd not having her there rooting and watvhing what we have in our wrapping.

Your so sadly missed Meg....:-(

I haven't been here in awhile but I had to visit today and I really hope and pray for all of you and your loved ones - here and elsewhere - to be able to make it through the day as best you can, cause you will. I second Sue's wise words, there is light at the end of the tunnel. It's dim sometimes, and just a flicker other times, but it is there, and you will get there. Without the kindness, generosity and wisdom of the folks I've met here, I know I never would have realized that there is a light at all - I really did believe at first, as I think a lot of us do - that there is only darkness and cold out there, and always would be. But with the support and sharing of others, and their understanding, I've come to a place where I can actually see that light, and it's even kind of bright now sometimes. There are bad days, there always will be, but now they're tempered by the fact that I know they won't last forever. I have other cats, who are dearly and some would say (not me, though!) overly loved, and other precious pets too, and the knowledge that one day they will leave is a bittersweet thing to live with, but I know now that there is support out there, and people who care who can be turned to and will not let me down. That, to me in this year when so much has been lost and found again, is my version of a Christmas miracle, and so is the fact that the ones who have left me physically, are not really gone, they're just in a different place. I don't think you need to be a person of any particular faith to believe that, but it's something that I just know, and that, along with you all who come here, is such an amazing comfort. So, thank you all from the bottom of my heart and forever. Take care - Barbara

Sue

Merry Christmas, thank you for the encoraging words. Christmas Eve was a misery for us, we missed our Mouse kitty so much. We somehow pulled it together for our Autumn kitty and our new baby kitten, and did pretty good today.

It's good to read things like this, the 23rd was two months for us. We had been doing okay, or so we thought, but the holiday brought things back so strongly. Some days it still feels like I have no ground under my feet.

Love
Lori

I hope everyone had a Happy Christmas, even though a certain loved one wasn't there physically this year. It was the saddest one since 2004 for me (my mum died that year of cancer). Not having two cats with me was very hard but if Patches weren't here I would likely have locked myself up and cried for two days straight. I did blub a bit at church service (especially at the beauty of it) but knew that I was still mourning the loss of Precious (almost five months) and Tigger (two weeks tomorrow). Patches was doing curious things on Christmas Day: he kept looking for something, going to Precious' special spots in the house and crying for him, even though he had never met Precious! I think he could see and sense something I couldn't...though I kept seeing something out of the corner of my eye while watching a movie. It looked whitish. I thought my eyes were over-tired but Patches kept looking the same way and even hopped off the couch to investigate a few times! Maybe it was both of them trying to make contact. I like to think of it as that. Precious, though he's physically gone, will never completely leave me. We had too strong of a bond. Tigger was my dad's cat but I was his caregiver through the final illness so we had a bond too.
Love never dies...everyone, please remember that!!
Lisa