I think we all have stories about the life and death of family pets. It can be very traumatic and I feel a little guilty that I have used the death of family pets as fodder for stories that I told to my children and students.
Pets were an important part of our family and now my children are carrying on the tradition of finding the right pet for their families. We tried all sorts of pets, rodents, a few reptiles, spiders, a bird, a rabbit and of course cats and dogs.
How to handle the death of a pet was something we did learn about in parenting class and I am sure it is not in my copy of the parent handbook. Explaining the death of a pet to small children often results in a barrage of questions that challenges a parents creativity.
The Henri the cat story was mostly true. The frantic phone call I received from my wife was the start of this tale. I rushed home from school to find my wife seated in the rocking chair with a lifeless Henri the cat on her lap and could not help but notice that the cats tongue appeared to be extraordinarily long hanging out of his mouth light a limp pieces of raw bacon. Gathered around her were four little mourners in obvious distress. I quieted the group and tried to understand what had happened. Each child tried to tell me between the crying and whining what happen. I finally realized that the cat had made several turns inside the dryer. Evidently, he was sleeping in a basket and got tossed into the drum of death. My wife thought is was just tennis shoes banging around in the dryer but shoes do not make cat sounds as they bang around in the dryer.
I quickly scoop up the cat and sped off to the vet. I rushed him into the office and they quickly tried to revive Henri. Slowly his temperature returned to normal and he regained consciousness. He was a bit lethargic after his surprise turn in the dryer. He stayed overnight at the vet and the next day he arrived home and all was well. Of course he would not get close to the laundry room for the rest of his life. He lived for a few more years and the cat trauma become part of the Isom folklore. Over the years the story has been told hundreds of times. I used to regale my students with Henri's story and other outlandish tales about other events in the Isom household. I did have a method to this story madness; It was an attempt to foster creativity. Turning everyday events into art is a hard task for most people. They seem to be searching for some great Epiphany that will provide the creative spark. However, most of the time they wait for that moment of inspiration that never appears. The edited story told to my grandchildren and students included a description of Henri's strange demeanor due what I called a brain injury. There was no evidence of brain damage, but it was a great addition to the story. I added that he spent most of his days on top of the living room curtain, with a wild look in his eye, just waiting for someone to enter the front door. He would then ponce on them an quickly scurry away. Great story but Henri's did not do a lot of scurrying after the life altering event.
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