Heart lifting, heart breaking...

This week has been a monumentally emotional week.  I admit that I am weary as I write this, mostly because our own cat, Minuet, is missing and we are just heartbroken about it.  I've been making phone calls and posters today, so her sweet face is on my mind.  Here she is, being helpful as is her wont.  We have called her "The Assistant" since she was a kitten when she would pin her siblings down to wash them just like her Mama did.  Since then, she's helped the humans with every task--paperwork, laundry, house cleaning, plumbing, decorating.  Oh, and salad preparation.  She loves lettuce and will pilfer salad bowls and even bags of lettuce from the store.  She was just a baby when I joined Carolyn, so she is special for so many reasons.

There were 3 other pets who touched my heart in a big way this week; I'll only mention one here right now as she has already been dubbed a pirate.  Lily, the wonder dog, underwent surgery again as another tumor appeared on the incision site for her leg amputation.  I was so hoping that she would be done with big surgeries after the last one.  Heartbreaking to see her shaved and cut again, bandaged afterward just like she was after the amputation.  But heart lifting to see her two days later, on the job at the physical therapy office, joyfully greeting clients, wearing a pretty pink sweater instead of a bandage.  This may be the happiest, most fulfilled dog I have ever known.

Keep them all in your hearts and send out good thoughts for all of the pirates.