Knowing my pets all died in the house fire was extremely upsetting. This caused me so much hurt and anger that they all suffered.
Growing up, we always had cats. They were outdoor cats. The female cat often ended up pregnant. It was always so exciting to see the kittens. The 1980s were definitely a different time for cats not always being fixed and seeing many more outdoor cats in my neighborhood. When my cat had a litter of kittens, we would go to the local flee market for people to adopt them, but my parents let us a us keep a kitten. Present day me would never do any of this with cats I’ve had, but again times have for sure changed since childhood. The mother cata name was Ginx, and her son was Hojo. I really loved them both.
Then we had Bonkers and jet black cat who really only liked me. I do not remember adopting Bonkers, but the name was very fitting for this cat. He was wild and often hissed and scratched people. He would allow me to sit with him on my lap and pet him. I loved him. He will have another chapter about a crazy story that he caused my family.
Then my sister and I both had guinea pigs. We had a neighbor across the street whom we’d spend time with her kids often. So we’d put the guinea pigs in our red wagon and bring them over there. I really did take good care of mine. My sisters guinea pig passed on before the fire, but mine had a longer life up until dying in the house fire.
Our other pet was a dog named Boomer. We had adopted him from the local flee market. It was such an odd 80s flee market that seemed to be filled with anything and everything. Boomer was a mutt. We would take him on walks, and if my brother ever bullied me on the walk, Boomer would always attack the victim of the situation. Other than that poor quality, he was a really great dog that our family loved.
My brother had a lizard, which I do not really remember much about.
Looking back at the day, I knew my house was on fire. I wasn’t really concerned about my mother seeing I knew she caused the fire and killed all of our pets.
What father would say to their kids that all of the animals died in the fire? I get it now, but I was so angry because I knew the truth.
Present day me is vegan. So, looking back on this memory really hits me differently.
I do think about this loss and the house fire more often than I would wish to, but there’s no way of erasing those traumatic memories.
Knowing I almost stayed home this day would have meant I would have suffered and died in the fire. I know my mother would have never recovered from that.
So, in memory of the pets I loved so much, I pray they didn’t suffer long. No person or animal deserves to live through that much trauma.
I really did love them all and probably more than any person seeing they always comforted me while the rest of the world made me suffer alone.
That’s what animals are sent to us for is to show unconditional love and comfort. If I could have saved them, I would have.
In life comes death, and I will always be able to hold onto the memories I was left with about all of my pets.
The Outspoken Advocate 