Heart break and hope

 We lost our Scamper overnight, this past Tuesday.

It was ironic, because Dave and I were JUST talking about how we never saw her or Sammie cross the street.  They always stayed in our yard, or went into the other back yards that connect with ours.

But then, on Tuesday evening, which was full moon,  I kept going outside to see if I could get some pictures of the moon rise.

I saw them in the yard just across from us, chasing bugs.  I chided them to "get back home!!"  

I took a picture of them over there to show to Dave.... since we had JUST been talking about that very subject.

Scamper never made it back home.  

Dave saw her lying in the street early Wednesday morning, killed by a car.

We buried her next to the two of her siblings that died here, after Sammie brought everyone to us last August.  I put her toys into the grave with her.

The ones she brought to us, having stolen them from neighboring yards.

It was absolutely devastating.  We both cried all day. 

We loved her so much, and she adored us.

Tuesday afternoon, I had been out on the back porch, and she was literally all over me, with purrs and meeps. 

She was the sweetest, most loving little spirit.

I forgot about the picture that I had taken until a couple of days ago, when I was going through the pictures in my phone.

In it, Scamper is jumping, so she looks like an actual spirit.  

We both wept again when we looked at it.  I can't delete it.  That one is a keeper.

Sammie has been staying very close ever since.  She follows us around meowing, and sometimes just sits on the front porch, looking across the street.  It's heart wrenching.

For the first day, she was going from the front to the back of the house, over and over, yowling.  Calling for her last baby.

We are so grateful that we were able to save two of them.  We did literally everything we could for those Kittenea kittens... even more that we could, since people donated food and money to help us.

We also know that this is often the fate of feral cats, or just cats whose humans stupidly let them go outside in a city.  

We never expected it, though, and it was horrible in every way.

This past Thursday was scan day, and all went smoothly.  I can look up the results, but I will wait until I see my doctor next week, also on Thursday, to get any news.

Hopefully, it will all be good!  

I also have my heart ultrasound this coming Tuesday, and noticed that they have now scheduled me for chemo after my doctor visit, so that's no longer a mystery.  

It would have been nice of someone to CALL me, but they never do.  Thankfully, I check the "My Chart" app regularly.

There were violent storms in Oklahoma last night.  No damage here, but there were serious situations in a couple of smaller towns.

Two dead, so far, that I have heard, and one downtown area was completely wiped off of the map.  So sad. 

Today is my 62nd birthday.  It is not lost on me that I was 52 when I was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer.

To begin my celebration, we went to the woods this morning.  On the way, we saw a kettle of Mississippi Kites returning to their home for the summer!  

I LOVE that they came back ON my birthday this year!

Anyway, we got to the woods 2 hours later than planned, because we spent an hour in heavy traffic (we forgot about the OKC Marathon, and that it crosses May Avenue TWICE), and then went to breakfast first, rather than after.

When we got to the woods, though, there weren't very many cars, so it was still nice and quiet.  There was a gentle mist, and it was cool and cloudy, so it wasn't as crowded as it would have been in better weather.

As we walk along, I always look for deer, and I was not disappointed this morning.  

Off to our left, I saw a doe, lying in the grass.  She was relatively far from the path, and alone, which was unusual.  

We walked a few more feet, and had a different angle to look at her, and that was when we spotted her new born fawn.

I gasped, my heart leapt, and tears filled my eyes.

Happy Birth - Day, Little One!!  

That explained why she was not surrounded by other deer. 

It was the most beautiful thing I could have seen, on this particular day.  I tried to get pictures, but they were too far away for just having a phone camera.

So, our week went from utter heart break, to a symbol of absolute hope.  

Between seeing the kites, and the newborn, our healing has begun.

The weather is supposed to clear later today, and we will place a flagstone on the fresh grave.  Dave also picked one up for the siblings' grave, which just has a 12 x 12 concrete paving tile on it.  The flagstones look nicer. 

I did the mowing yesterday, and hopefully, Dave will do his chores this afternoon.

My birthday wish is to go out for sushi for dinner!

Have a great week.