I'm trying to smile...I just can't right now

[Gabrielle Proctor]

That's a very beautiful cat, and he looks like quite the character! I'm sorry for your loss.

I've lost several beloved pets, lost three cats just last year. It doesn't get any easier, but I know they loved me as much as I loved them, and they're in a happier place now.

Back OT, I just don't get those folks who demand that we smile. We're human beings, not service robots! Some days we're feeling under the weather, or we've lost a loved one, or we're innundated with stress. Having the Grin Gestapo barking at us to "SMILE!" isn't going to make us feel better. Don't like my facial expression? Nobody's holding a gun to your head and forcing you to look. I don't have snakes for hair, and my frown isn't going to turn you to stone. I'm a human being, deal with it!

Well put. Thanks so much to everybody for their condolences, it really means a lot to me. I'm sure at this moment, if there is a heaven, Zeke is probably eating...a lot. That's probably all he's doing. It used to be his favorite thing to do! He would run to that food bowl like that was all he had to look forward to, like his very life depended on it.

At one point in his life he weighed 20 lbs!!! But when he became an outside cat after the week the ppl who were house sitting accidently let him out, he didn't want to come back in, after that he dropped to 15lbs. We let him stay outside because he seemed happier. I don't know if he would still be alive if we had just kept him inside, but it sure would have saved us hundreds of dollars in vet bills.

[Sparkticus]

Gabrielle: I'm so sorry to hear about your cat... I know how much it'd affect me if I lost mine, and at least you can smile with your good memories, and from how you talk about him, there must be a few!

Jack: Awesome picture frame, great way to remember a lost furry one

[Binky]

I'm sorry to hear about your cat. I know how you feel. I'm at work right now and I can't stop thinking about my baby, and how much I miss her. It's using up all my will power at the moment to stop myself from bursting into tears.

*big hugs* you can't always be happy, but hopefully one day soon the sunshine will come back and you'll feel better.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Sorry to hear about your cat. I cried for weeks when my dog had to be put down. She had tumours in her kidneys and was 15 years old, but it still hurts, even when you know it's best.

On topic: I had to go into work the day after my granny's funeral cuz I couldn't get the day off. I told my supervisors that, and it's a good thing I did cuz some numbnuts complained about me later cuz I wasn't smiling. My supervisor informed the SC that my granny had died, and he was shocked to the back teeth and horrified... but, if he'd just asked me "What's the matter?" instead of making a complaint, I would have told him.