Yesterday morning Tyson went down to check on Sylvie and found that she had passed away. She had been really sick and it was pretty clear she was close to the end. Thursday, Tyson tried to feed her some tuna juice (her favorite snack) and she lapped up only a little. She was hardly able to stand or walk.
Sylvie joined our family with her sister Marlie as kittens back in 1987. Sylvie was over 20 years old and has been a constant and abiding source of humor, amusement and comfort all those years. Marlie left us in 1993 when she escaped from the house and was hit by a car. She was always the more adventurous and precotious of the two and they both looked identical except that Marlie had a black spot on her nose.
I gave Sylvie and Marlie to Christine as a gift that Christmas because we had decided to delay children for a few years. They were like her children during that time. Often when we were studying, "The Kitties" would climb on our books and swing their tails in our faces. I would take my highlighter and color their noses pink or yellow. It's hard to believe how long they have been with us. It's been so long and now they're both gone.
Yesterday we took a little fur hair from Sylvie and bundled her up. We buried her and Tyson, Amanda, Jenny and Sarah helped. We threw flowers in the grave, said a few words and buried her. This is probably the first time the children have experienced such a loss. They've never known life without Sylvie around. She was part of the family.
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