We buried Stewart today. Even though Ana is only two, we wanted to make as much of a teachable moment out of this as possible.After telling her that it was time to go and say good bye to Stewart, we went out to the meadow to see him. We explained that all living things need to die sometime, and that it's just the way things are. She wasn't at all bothered by the sight of him laying there, and seemed to understand that there was something different between him in that state and him as a sleeping cat. She was a little concerned when I laid him in his grave and started putting dirt on top of him ("What's daddy doing, mama?") but took it all in stride. After I was done, we all had a big group hug (sniff, sniff) and waved bye-bye to Stewie.
As we walked away, she said, "Stoower got a bang-bang."
Yes. She may never remember this day, but at least she had a glimmer of understanding....
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