Mollie

(Seems I was just writing a very similar post not that long ago...*sigh*)

Rough day yesterday @ Casa beachbum. (As of the initial writing of this) I'm just in & cleaned up from gravedigging duties in the back yard. Our next-door neighbor's pit bull killed Mollie, our small cat, this morning around 8:30. (Aside: I honestly think the dog was "playing" with Mollie...but it went horribly awry...)

So, once again--and for the final time--we are mourning the loss of an awesome cat.

Mollie was about 16 or so. All black, still w/ a bit of a sassy personality. She was very small; still looked & acted like a little kitten. She was mostly an inside cat, but ventured out now & then. Once too often, as it turns out...

Mollie came to us suddenly. 16 years ago, Lisa & I were teaching college Sunday School @ our church. Thus the phone call one night from a young lady in our group. "Hey, do y'all know anybody who wants a kitten? A guy gave me one, and my roommate is deathly allergic to them" She became cat #2 around here. (Cat #1 was Maggie, who died last year in a much more humane manner...)

I'm a dog guy. But I sure did love my two cats! I'm persuaded God made two great cats in all of creation. Both of them lived here and mightily blessed our lives, even while bossing us around like cats do. *smile* And I apologize to all of you cat people for being forced to tolerate lesser cats than our two awesome ones...*another smile*

Mollie loved to rest on top of someone, especially Lisa. She had this loud & awesome purr that made us refer to her as "crackling cat."

She also *loved* a box to climb into. Just recently, Lisa brought a long & skinny box home. Mollie *loved* it!

She also *dearly* loved this soft white rug we have. She would come knead it for a while & then go to sleep, crackling the whole time.

She became something of a co-belligerent with Maggie in the quest to keep Sam the dog under control. And eventually, after he was slapped upside the head (by Mollie!) several thousand times, Sam developed a sort of detante with Mollie. In fact, an oddly-treasured memory is one that happened several times over the last 16 years. Mollie--being a cat--came & went on her own terms, and thus would occasionally stay outside at night (her choice, of course). In the wee hours of some of those nights, we'd hear a ruckus of squealing & squalling, at which point Sam would go tearing out the door to protect his cat from bigger Tom cats or from whatever the pest was. Presently, Mollie would come strolling back in, followed a minute or two later by Sam. (Sam also did this with Maggie...Sam's a sweet dog!)

My morning routine has been to start the coffee while listening to Mollie telling me most insistently that the coffee could wait while I fed her. I missed getting fussed at this morning, and will miss it from now on. Another part of the morning routine was to give Sam & Beau (James' dog) a taste of catfood after feeding Mollie. They were a tad bit confused this morning; I'm more than a tad bit sad about that routine change...

Both of my children loved Mollie. James played with Mollie & got her to do things none of the rest of us could (or would!). Anne & Mollie were sleeping buddies. Anne said yesterday, "I can't even remember when Mollie wasn't around..."

(Yep...she laid on his head quite patiently, such that I have several shots of this from this past Christmas)

As I said, a tough day.

After considerable prayer, I knocked on the door at the dog's house yesterday. Introduced myself to the guy (he's new here), and told him about Mollie & his pit bull. He was very upset & apologetic, and said he'd get rid of the dog. It actually was a blessed conversation with a pretty good guy whose dog did a terrible thing. My pulse was probably 190, but I didn't feel anger (by the grace of God!), and he responded gracefully. In fact, within about a half-hour, the dog was in the back seat of the guy's truck, moving to a new home out in the country. This is a *much* better solution than my first instinct this morning, which involved a shotgun...God graciously calmed me down, and then providentially had me teaching on guarding the heart in Hebrews 3 & 4, followed by my pastor preaching an *awesome* message on persevering under trial from James 1. All within a couple of hours of the awful incident.

I'm a dog guy. And I try hard to be a good neighbor, and will continue to be so with the folks next door. But I was not, am not, and will not ever be a pit bull fan. (Pit Bull fans, don't even bother! Enjoy your animals, as is your right. And keep them the heck away from me and mine. Lisa & I have mental images now that will haunt us for some time, all because of a pit bull that had a rather sweet & pleasant disposition. That's all I have to say about that)

So, there are four people living here who are grieving a much-loved cat. She probably didn't have many more years left, but this is most assuredly NOT the end we had in mind.

We're fine, and will be more so. But we still miss our cat very badly...

I'm a dog guy...who is VERY sad about his cat's passing...

RIP, Mollie!

bb