A Sad Thing

This has been a very sad night tonight for our family. Garth was piling up kids in our van to run down to the bike shop to pick up Sophie’s bike. Her bike needed a new tire and the shop was supposed to fix it by today. She was very excited to get her bike back and kept reminding Garth that it was almost time. Immediately upon starting the van, he heard a strange noise followed by the sinking feeling that maybe it was our kittens. They have a bad habit of going up inside the van by the engine to sleep. We have had to pull the seat out to get them at times before we could go. However, this time, two of them, Jack and Jasper, were killed. It was very traumatic for the kids to see this and the whole episode was followed by much weeping. Even Cale. This was the first time I have seen him mourn a loss. They were all very distraught. Cale keeps asking, “Is Jack still gone?” I know that they were just kittens but they were a big part of the kids’ day. The first part of every morning was to run out and greet the kittens, along with checking on them at lunch and immediately after school. We have had six cats die since we came three years ago. The kids know that it was an accident and they are not mad at Daddy. This is a part of life and they will get over it, but their hearts are full of sadness.
The High Schoolers' all came back from beach trip tired, dirty and very hungry, but they had a wonderful time. I have not heard all the stories yet, but I am sure I will.
Garth is preaching in church tomorrow and next Sunday. I always enjoy that. Sometimes I stick funny words or messages in his sermon notes to see what happens, but now he knows to read it all before he goes up. Ha ha.
Love you all
Rachel