Let me start this blog by saying that I was raised with lots of animals in the house and each and every one of them were treated as family members, not as "just a pet". My family and I have always loved all animals with all our hearts. With that said, most of the cats we have right now have been in my life since I was 7, 8, & 9 years old and two of our cats came into my life when I was 13 (I am 21 now btw), so obviously, they have pretty much always been around. Back in July, one of our cats passed away quite suddenly and very violently (he had a blood clot in his lung and it was the most horrible situation I've ever seen in my whole life I wouldn't wish that on anybody!!). That cat (his name was Shakespeare) was absolute best friends with another one of our cats (Frankie) and for as long as I can remember they have done everything together. Yesterday, Frankie passed away and it has just destroyed my dad (he was his baby) and left the rest of us so depressed that we're having a difficult time even thinking about Christmas at the moment I know some people don't think that losing a pet is a big deal because they think that animals are "just animals" or "just pets", so if you think that way, please do not comment on my blog....I am going through enough right now and I don't want to deal with people like that leaving negative comments. I'm trying to get back on track today since yesterday was a total disaster, but I'm just struggling because of the intense loss I'm feeling right now. It was bad enough to think about Christmas without Shakespeare (I haven't had one without him since I was 8!), but now we have to deal with Christmas with him and Frankie (who I haven't been without since I was 9)....I'm just so sad right now and I miss them both so very much