Sprague Parade: Rest in Peace, Moon

I try to explain to my daughter, Moon isn't coming back; He still loves us, but he died, and she looks at me and says our pumpkin from Halloween died too, just like Moon, and mama and dada are sad because they miss Moon... and then she tells me a joke to make me feel better Not Trader Joes, Trader Toes!!

It's really hard to tell how much reality a 2.5 year old needs, and it's hard to know what to say when I'm so unsure about what the reality actually is. I know the facts-- Moon was very very sick, and I had to put him to sleep yesterday afternoon, and Tyler and I are sad beyond belief. My little cat died in my arms, and we took him to Whidbey, up to my parents' cabin, and buried him beneath the ferns and morning rain. After we were done, I looked around me-- at the sky and the water-- and everything was gray and white and soft; a world translated into the downy coat of a siamese cat. He seemed everywhere.

Well, everyone has a different opinion about how to relate the death of a pet to your child. Funny, though, in many ways I think Violet understands the situation more than I give her credit for. --Or maybe it's just that really, when it comes down to it, the facts don't really matter a whole lot to her. What she understands is that we are feeling sad because we miss Moon in our house. We miss feeding him, and pulling a string for him to catch. We miss giving him hugs. She really doesn't have a whole lot of interest in why he's gone, or where he's gone; a toddler is pure feeling, not unsimilar to a cat itself; although she is starting to understand that he is gone, and that there has been a change. So I'm trying to take her lead, and not focus on what I simply don't know and can't explain... and focus more on how we are feeling about having to say goodbye... although it's not easy.

Here are a few photos from the ages. Enjoy! (And please don't judge 14 year old awkward Rachel too harshly ;)