I know that times have been tough for Gary and I, and not just financially. We used to make a real good living in our work together. But things changed in our business, and things changed with Gary's health. And he now lives with pain beyond comprehension - 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We "celebrate" three years of this come January. It costs us a lot of money, and we don't make what we used to.
We started our own biz, and have been moderately successful financially. Our consulting work is lumpy, but there's only so many contracts we can take on given our bandwidth. This causes my parents concern and stress, and I understand that, because our medical bills are excessive.
But I get this note tonight from my mom, asking us to consider getting rid of one or two of our cats. Mind you - she has no idea how much they do or don't cost us. She knows how much we've been through with them. They're here with us BECAUSE they were the unadoptable ones - the ones that needed medical care and socialization or used to have behavior issues. We fostered plenty that we did adopt out.
I was... so .... devastated, there's just no other word for it. Of all the ideas to "help" us - this is the idea? She KNOWS how involved in rescue and advocacy I am. It's pretty much all I do in my non-working hours.
I wrote her a long reply, explaining the exact cost of the cats to us, and an even longer bit about the plight of cats. I suggested she visit several shelters, or at the very least stop to talk to one of the cat Rescues at Petsmart when she's there shopping for their dog. She claims to know how much they mean to us... so what the.............
I wrapped up my note with this:
"We used to enjoy entertaining clients. We used to enjoy traveling. We used to enjoy going for walks and hikes. We used to love fishing. We used to love star gazing. We used to love swimming. We used to love drinking wine. Gary used to love cooking. We used to take pride in our RV and wash and wax her every month. Gary's pain has taken all of this away from us. The kitties are the only thing we have every day that make us smile, that make us laugh, and are one of the true joys we have left in our lives."
I'm just.... blown away. I just never expected something like this from my mom! They're kind, wonderful people - but it just seems so heartless - or thoughtless - I just don't know WHAT to think.
We started our own biz, and have been moderately successful financially. Our consulting work is lumpy, but there's only so many contracts we can take on given our bandwidth. This causes my parents concern and stress, and I understand that, because our medical bills are excessive.
But I get this note tonight from my mom, asking us to consider getting rid of one or two of our cats. Mind you - she has no idea how much they do or don't cost us. She knows how much we've been through with them. They're here with us BECAUSE they were the unadoptable ones - the ones that needed medical care and socialization or used to have behavior issues. We fostered plenty that we did adopt out.
I was... so .... devastated, there's just no other word for it. Of all the ideas to "help" us - this is the idea? She KNOWS how involved in rescue and advocacy I am. It's pretty much all I do in my non-working hours.
I wrote her a long reply, explaining the exact cost of the cats to us, and an even longer bit about the plight of cats. I suggested she visit several shelters, or at the very least stop to talk to one of the cat Rescues at Petsmart when she's there shopping for their dog. She claims to know how much they mean to us... so what the.............
I wrapped up my note with this:
"We used to enjoy entertaining clients. We used to enjoy traveling. We used to enjoy going for walks and hikes. We used to love fishing. We used to love star gazing. We used to love swimming. We used to love drinking wine. Gary used to love cooking. We used to take pride in our RV and wash and wax her every month. Gary's pain has taken all of this away from us. The kitties are the only thing we have every day that make us smile, that make us laugh, and are one of the true joys we have left in our lives."