Well, it's been a while. We are back home in Texas. Along the way, our gray furry family member started getting sick... not able to keep food down, not wanting to eat at all. We took her to the vet last Friday; they took blood and gave us some antibiotics. Following up today, we found that our sweet Molly has a bowel obstruction, most likely lymphoma. The prognosis isn't good, and we have a tough decision to make: surgery that she may likely not come through, or putting her down. Doing nothing is not an option - it would mean death by starvation.

As you can imagine, our hearts are torn apart. Molly is an amazing furry family member - great spirit, independent but lovey. I look into those eyes, and I know I have to do what I can for her. She has always been able to count on us.

We'd like to think that we have added to the adventure in her life. She adopted us; actually, we "dated" for a year before she became an official part of our family. She had never traveled before... she has been coast to coast, border to border with us. When things are stressful, she lowers our blood pressure. Yes, we have been able to count on her, too.

The odds are this will be our last day with our sweet Molly. My apologies for unloading here... many of you have followed along with us on our travels... good times, tough times... this is certainly tough.

Six months before Molly came to our door, we had to put down a sweet kitty that had been a part of our family for almost 22 years. At that time, I said, "Never again." It just hurt too much. I didn't count on meeting a personality like Molly. No matter how much this hurts, the time we've had with Molly has been enlightening... our lives are better for the experience.

Jim