Today was the first time Joie snuggled up with me on my over-sized wicker chair and ottoman and we took a quick cat nap together. Not that we haven’t snuggled since she got here, because believe me, we do that every chance I get! But today was the first time we cuddled together in my writing cottage in my wicker chair.
I couldn’t help but think about how “firsts” are so fun when you have a new pet but how hard they are when you lose a pet. So many “firsts” I went through this summer after Frankie passed. The first morning not helping her go potty, the first time not filling her bowl, the first time I couldn’t hold her, the first time I ran an errand without her, the first time I took a walk without her, the first night I went to bed without her at my side, and on and on the firsts went. Getting through all of them was difficult and felt overwhelmingly heavy at times.
As I’ve now experienced lots of new firsts with Joie it’s such a good place to be in my heart again. It is such an amazing reminder that this is all part of life. You can’t have a first without a last. You can’t have sunshine without rain. You can’t have happy without sad. You can’t have life without death. Without firsts and lasts we’d never really truly appreciate and value this thing called life.