The Summer Begins

My students' last day of school was May 31st. My last day was June 1st. As soon as I finished packing things up on Friday, I drove to Dallas to see my family, since I hadn't seen them since Christmas (sad!). My brother had just turned 9 the week before, and this is the first year I haven't been there on his birthday - usually school is out by then, but not this year, and he was a little miffed I wasn't going to be there. He told me I should "order a substitute" so I could come up on his actual birthday. Ha! Once I got there, though, we had a lot of fun - we saw The Avengers, went to the Lego store for some birthday Legos, made homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream (without an ice cream machine!), and worked on a collaborative Avengers art project.

Then, I spent a day in Ft. Worth with my boyfriend and his family, then we came back to Austin. For my one full day back home, I went back to my classroom to finish up a few things, and came home to clean, do laundry, and pack...because Thursday morning we had to get to the airport before sunrise to head to New York for my friend's wedding. I had a really great time in NY, exploring during the day and spending time with my friends in the evening, and weddings are always fun to celebrate.

But then, when I got home from NY on Sunday night, I noticed my cat, Corona, was not acting right. I have had Corona since I was in the 4th grade, and my dad found her in the woods on a golf course when she was just a tiny kitten. She had been attacked by something, and as a result she had to have her back left leg and tail amputated. Regardless of her disability, though, she had never had any issues walking, running, or jumping with just three legs, but on Sunday, she was losing her balance whenever she tried to walk, and when I went to pick her up to see what was wrong, she hissed and growled at me, and even bit me so hard that I started to bleed. She has NEVER done that, so I knew something was wrong. I called the vet immediately and made an appointment for yesterday afternoon (I would have gone in Monday had I not already promised to babysit for the kids I used to nanny for in college).

Once I got Corona to the vet, he checked her out and the prognosis was not good. The leg that had been amputated so many years ago was done below the knee instead of above, so she still had a tiny bit of her lower leg attached, but it had popped out of the knee socket, and that was what was causing her so much pain. I knew it wasn't going to be a good diagnosis, and I had prepared myself for the inevitable. I had to say goodbye to my sweet Corona yesterday afternoon, and while I'm at peace knowing she's no longer in pain, I am so, so sad that she's gone.

So, I've spent the first week of my summer vacation running around like crazy, enjoying time with my family and friends, and now that I'm home, I'm without my feline companion. I've been an emotional wreck this morning, but sharing about her passing is helping me heal. Eventually, I'll post about how we ended the year in my classroom, or I'll move ahead to talk about what I'm doing to prepare for next year, but for now, I'm in mourning.

If you have a pet, be sure to hug them extra tight for me today.
xo