Thank You Charlotte
On Friday night, we suddenly lost our first fur baby Charlotte. She died in our home, in our arms with no warning. She wasn’t sick and she wasn’t old. We called my mother immediately to come over to watch the twins while we rushed her to the local veterinary hospital but she was dead on arrival. We spent the next hour holding her a towel, crying our eyes out and saying goodbye. It broke my heart to say goodbye to her, at only six years old. She had so many more bugs to hunt and toys to swat around and treats to eat and now she’ll never get the chance.
Charlotte changes us. She was our first touch of responsibility for another life. She eased us in gently, always being very low maintenance and extremely loving. She helped us learn what it meant to put something else before ourselves. She helped us to learn that sometimes coming home from work instead of out to dinner to feed your animals first was the right thing to do. She taught us what it meant to be a nervous parent the first time we took her to the vet because she was sick. She taught Geoff how amazing a cat can be. She helped us realize we could be responsible for a dog and baby and then two babies that came on the same day years later. She was our test run and I will forever be grateful to her for that.
I know she prepared us well for our twins. We have many friends that have one baby and I’ve often received phone calls or text messages saying “I don’t know how you ever did this with two.” I know how we did it with two and it was because we were well prepared and had a lot of help. Geoff and I knew what it was like to take care of a tribe of animals, always prioritizing them over our own lives. We’d rush home to make sure they got dinner or walked or played with before we took care of our own wants and needs. Financially, we were used to paying for their food, toys, litter, vet bills, and boarding costs. We were used to being accountable for other livings things so two infants coming barrelling into our lives was not as scary. She set us up to be good parents.
Charlotte- my first baby, thank you for loving us and letting us love you. Thank you for preparing us for our greatest adventure yet. Thank you for making us laugh. Thank you for all the bugs you helped us kill. Thank you for protecting the basement. Thank you for all the moments you made us feel like proud parents. Thank you for being sweet to our human babies and Ronan. Thank you for keeping Savannah in check when she got a little sassy. Thank you for changing us for the better. Thank you for making us laugh. Thank you for being ours. We love you and will miss you always. You are irreplaceable and no amount of time would have been enough with you. RIP baby girl.
