Farewell Norma

I was worried about Norma before I left. I know that she had limited time left but seeing her condition as I left for Ireland I did wonder whether now was a good time to go away. I told my neighbour to phone me if she was worried. Last night, while we were enjoying a meal with neighbours in our dining room (complete with dust sheets as tablecloths, tools all around us and no ceilings) I got a call. Norma had been missing for two days and despite searches and contacting the vet she had not reappeared. The feeling was that she had taken herself off to die.

I spent the night trying to think about places that she might be. I went through all her secret hiding places in my mind and sent a text the following morning. As we were wandering round yet another hardware store I got a call to say that she had been found in a nearby garden and taken to the vets. She was almost dead so the vets had to put her to sleep.

I called the vets, tried to reassure everyone that they had done the right thing, and agreed Norma's funeral arrangements. (A few days in the freezer and the off to the pet crematorium..I am not sentimental about these things and don't feel the need to have some sort of memorial ).

So, Norma chose her time and is now at peace but when I return on Saturday the house will feel less like home without her.