One day last week, Russell woke up early. I went in and cuddled with him, wondering if he needed to go back to sleep, but he seemed quite alert and his eyes were open.
Suddenly I realized his little face was puckering up in distress and tears were in his eyes. "Russell, what's the matter? Is something bothering you?"
"I was thinking..." with a small sob, "I was thinking about when this planet dies and disappears."
I reassured him that wouldn't happen for a long, long time (not adding "after we're all dead"; I thought that might not be entirely soothing).
Suzzy the cat was on his bed with us, purring, as she often is these days. He started cuddling her for comfort, then started to cry again, and sobbed, "When Suzzy d-d-dies and and we have her ashes, can we sprinkle them in my bed sheets?" (I had recently explained about cremation and sprinkling a person's ashes in places they loved.)
I gently reminded him we had taken Suzzy to the vet this month and she seemed perfectly healthy. I have to admit I dodged the bed sheet question.
Meanwhile, the thought pounding through my brain was, Why are we having this conversation before I've had my tea??
Comments
They always manage to ask the toughest questions when we're the least prepared, don't they? It must be in that secret manual the kids seem to have stashed somehwere.