what we have left of cream

Back in June when we took Cream to the vet for what we all knew was his final trip, Blair and I were assuming that we would bury him in the yard. We're Jewish, so our mindset is to bury. We have buried a bunch of cats in the yard over the years. And we just assumed that that's what Sharon wanted too.

We should have discussed it with her.

As we got close to home with Cream's body -- with normal traffic, this vet is about 45 minutes away -- Sharon finally told us what had been on her mind. She wanted him cremated. As I would later learn, she didn't like the idea of bugs eating his body. I have some thoughts on that, but the fact is Cream was her cat so Blair and I respected her wishes.

So we drove back to the vet, dead cat in the car, and filled out the forms. But it's not quite as simple as that. You can have your pet cremated with a whole batch of other similarly situated pets. For an extra fee, they'll cremate your pet by itself and return the ashes to you. And, of course, the crematory has lots of memorial souvenirs you can purchase to remember your pet. Cream was Sharon's first pet -- she barely remembers life before him. So Blair and I pretty much gave her carte-blanche to get what she wanted.

So Sharon has a little urn necklace, with a little bit of Cream's ashes in it. And a yin-yang pendant with Cream's noseprint and pawprint engraved on it. And the ashes (except for what's in the urn necklace) are in a satin bag in a box. At least until such time as Sharon decides to spread them out in the front yard where Blair created a Cream memorial garden (mostly flowers with white or off-white colors).

I am thinking about this now because of the timing. Cream took his final ride in June, right before Sharon went to California. When I heard from the vet's office that they have our Cream souvenirs, I asked if they can hold on to them for a bit -- Sharon didn't want someone else to pick them up without us. So yesterday -- Sharon's first Saturday at home after her trip -- she and I went to the vet to pick up Cream.

And somnetime soon we have to go into Manhattan and find a suitable chain for the yin yang necklace.

In the meantime, we have our memories.