Awful news

Our little orange visiter is gone for good. Last week, Firenze's adventures in the big wide world came to an end when he got hit by a car before he could find his way home. It's so sad that such an unexpected thing, an adorable tiny kitten that showed up in the basement, ended so unexpectedly as well.

It's a very strange feeling to have something taken away just when you've changed your life around to accommodate it. The saddest part is that he finally got his wish to go explore out the front door. Firenze had already been trying to get outside as often as possible once we let him out the back for the first time. It made him so happy to be out there with us, playing with all the low-hanging leaves and pouncing on shadows. We tried never to let him get out the front, but his persistence paid off when he snuck out completely unnoticed as we were taking out the trash. All our searching and putting up posters and walking around the neighborhood with his cat treats couldn't bring him back.

As Todd pointed out it is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. But it hurts like hell and those tiny little paws leave surprisingly big footprints on your heart.