Simply Thankful

It dawned on me today sitting at work that I hadn’t blogged in almost a month. Thankfully Mason was so tired from hanging out with his Dad at home today that he was conked out when I got home from work and I sat down to jot some happenings down. We’ve been so busy the past few weeks! There is also another reason I have been putting off this blog post so I’ll start with that then travel onto happier news.

When Spanky passed away, I blogged about how I came to meet him and how he fit into my life so seamlessly. Many times I said I wasn’t going to write this blog post out because it was painful…but my Brutus Bear deserves the same tribute. 

In the fall of 2005 I was living in Morehead City, in a serious relationship in which we had a dog – a dog that Spanky did not get along with. Since I was 5 minutes from my parents’ house they graciously agreed to let Spanky come stay there until I could figure out how to incorporate them into the same home together. The incorporation never happened, Spanky was content to be the sole attention getter at my parents, and I didn’t have the heart to put him in a house with a dog he hated…so he lived across the bridge from me. Flash forward 2 and half months I am taking my dog to a vet appointment and in the lobby they had a cage in the front with a sign that said “Free cat to good home.” And I didn’t pay much attention to it as I was walking through. I sat down on the bench to wait to be called back and then he caught my eye. It was this very tiny gray and white tabby and he was bouncing, literally bouncing around the cage.  He was not jumping, all four paws were leaving the ground and he would just hop. I thought what a strange cat he was, and walked into the vet’s office with the pup. When I came out he was still bouncing…and I asked about him. His name was Sylvester and someone had found him sick, injured, and abandoned on their driveway and brought him into the vet’s office. They nursed him back to health and were now trying to find him a home. Of course I pull out my cell phone and called my boyfriend and explained I missed having a cat and I deserved THIS cat because I had to move Spanky across the bridge. Grasping at straws in true dramatic Julie fashion, but it worked and Sylvester came home with me. Sylvester was Brutus and he was my baby bear.

Well life does funny things and 3 weeks after bringing that little bouncing kitten home my relationship fell apart in a not so fun way. That night I remember my Mom telling me to come home and my response was “I can’t come home, I have Brutus now and Spanky will hate him and it will be a mess I’ll just stay at my house.” But when your heart is broken your Mom wants you close (and I certainly didn’t want to be alone!) so I packed my bags and put Brutus in the front seat and we drove across the bridge. I walked in the house and Spanky was sprawled out in the middle of the floor as usual and I decided there was no getting around it I was just going to put Brutus down and let Spanky either run and hide, attack him, or just completely ignore him. Then, the oddest thing happened. Spanky walked over to Brutus and started licking his face, almost like he was giving him a bath and was his parent. I couldn’t believe it. From Day 1 those little guys were the best of friends and completely inseparable. 

They both came into my life at the more interesting points…definitely when I needed love.

As we all know I had to put Spanky down on August 17. What I didn’t expect is that I’d have to say goodbye to Brutus so soon after. We knew it would be a big adjustment for him to live without Spanky and he did the usual things a cat would do like looking for Spanky and being very sad, and he was also clingy. But in mid-October we noticed Brutus wasn’t eating much so we switched him to wet food and that seemed to solve the problem for a few weeks. Earlier this month Brutus completely stopped eating. We took him to the vet of course, he was hospitalized and placed on IVs and we did all kinds of tests and they sent him home. That week he was taken back twice and on that Thursday the vet said she would give him through the weekend and if he wasn’t doing any better we needed to consider other options. I knew what other options meant, I had been down this road. They couldn’t find anything wrong with him, he had just stopped eating. The vet said it could be a form of cancer but that would take diagnostics and even if it was feline cancer, we wouldn’t be able to treat it because of financial reasons and feline cancer is pretty aggressive. Again, I wasn't willing to sacrifice his quality of life. So I brought him home and spent the whole weekend praying. It didn’t help…I think Brutus just didn’t like this life without his best friend Spanky and on November 12 Brutus passed away. I thought Spanky was painful but Brutus was just plain awful. Not that I loved him more than Spanky but I still had Brutus. Now they are both gone and it breaks my heart. So you can understand why I have been putting off this blog post!! It has been pretty emotional at our house. My sister said it perfectly…she said she thinks those sweet cats came into my life when I needed them, and now that I am settled and happy and “ok” their job was done. I know some people will read this and think that’s ridiculous, they were just cats…but they were definitely more than that. Thanks to everyone who checked on us and sent kind words. 

Do we need something to lighten the mood???? I think so. Let’s talk about Thanksgiving and how much I ate! Just kidding. But not really. I hope everyone had a beautiful holiday. My mom came up and we cooked a feast! There was turkey, dressing, sweet potatoes, pie, anything you can think of that screams Thanksgiving we made. I got my formal china out and we had wine James and I got form the winery and it was such a beautiful meal. I try to be thankful everyday but it is nice to take a time to say it out loud with the people you love.  Then on Friday Annie and Will came to spend the weekend with us and we had the best time exploring Williamsburg and playing pranks on James Howard :)  

I am just so grateful for family. I’m grateful for my biological family, the family I married into, my friends that feel like family…I just feel so blessed. And of course, I am eternally grateful for my amazing husband who is the best Dad in the entire world, and my beautiful son. And if you’re reading this you are most definitely someone I consider family, so thank you for following our journey and loving us every step of the way.

We are headed to Dunn this weekend for Mason to attend his first Christmas parade…he is so excited to get some time with his cousins and Grandaddy and Gigi Green. Other than that it has been the normal chaos of everyday life for us...I went tonight and bought new running shoes. On Monday I am officially starting my training for a 5K and to become a legit runner and lose the last of this baby weight! :) Now that I've blogged about it and put it out on social media I have to follow through...right!? This is a big deal. Usually I only run when I am being chased...or see a bee. 

Can't wait to post pictures of our fun trip this weekend so stay tuned!! 

Have a fantastic weekend,

James, Julie, & Mason