One of our two family cats, "Spaghetti" had kittens yesterday, only a pair, and one died before we could do anything. Naturally there we many tears, mostly from me and Naomi.
Holding a perfectly formed little kitten, which hadn't had even a moment to breathe was very sad. It is a sobering reminder that all of us are mortal, and that as much as we package death away in this present culture & society it doesn't actually stop death occurring.
It wasn't the way that I had hoped it would pan out. When I was little, at the age of six my cat "Marmite" (bizarrely another food name) had kittens on my lap, her waters broke as I was plotted up watching Playschool or something, and before we could get her off my lap and into her basket, one little kitten had popped out. Her kittens survived and were duly sent off to "good homes", which was the only sadness involved.
So I had hoped that our little clan of children would see the delight of a clutch of kittens all feeding and nuzzling at the same time. It was not to be. The lessons that they are learning however are huge. Elliot, as I was still sobbing & holding this little dead kitten, came out with "I wish there wasn't any death, or growing old, and I wish that we all lived forever". Well that was a great start to a discussion that we then ended up having about God, heaven, Jesus, death and eternal life...
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