Hardest Yet

Yesterday was the hardest goodbye to an animal yet. Our family pet of 16 years this month was lost. Due to an unfortunate accident, we lost Fudge, one of our two black cats I talked my parents into getting in the summer of 1992.
I've learned recently that I seem to have had a way as a child of talking my parents into getting me cats. We had a number of them when we lived in the country. And when we moved to the city, I wasn't too pleased at not having furry buddies around. So 1st grade I talked my parents into getting two kittens. My mom has a thing for black ones, so if she was going to have to clean up after city cats, she was going to get what she wanted. That's when Moe and Joe arrived (still named by my parents due to my being too young). These two weren't too friendly from the start and ended up not hanging around for much longer than they had to once they grew up.
Well by the ripe old age of 12, I had the itch for furry buddies again. Once again I convinced my parents of getting me a set of kittens. We were very close to purchasing two Siamese cats from the mall's pet store, when we discovered this store was not known for healthy pets. So my mom found a listing for some free kittens in the paper and we went bringing home two little black fur balls. My brother named one Edward with the idea of calling him Ed when he was a grown cat. That never happened. He is still affectionately called Edward today. And I had a hard time debating between the names of Fudge and Max. But when I noticed the mix of white hairs in with his black, I just knew at the time black and white made brown so he was named Fudge.
The boys came home and made themselves a home in our house and heart very quickly.
There are many good and bad stories I could share, but obviously with 16 years under their belt, this post would then go on for a very long time. I'll slowly share one here and there in other posts.
Fudge lived through the accident, but was obviously in bad shape. So we ran him to the vet. We were told he had a broken leg, and nerve damage to his rear causing him to have to loose his tail and if the nerves didn't heal, to never have control of his urinating or bowel movements. And with these making it very possible he could never be an outdoor cat again.
With the thought of him going through so much pain to maybe never go outside again and to maybe not make it through surgery either, we decided the hardest decision ever. To go ahead and put a stop to his pain now. He had been suffering from arthritis for a few years now and was getting around less and less, which is what lead to his accident. He had also been acting odd recently keeping my mom fairly worried on how much longer he would be with us anyway. I said a very tearful goodbye and had to leave. My mom, the brave one, stayed with him and petted him till he joined our Lord.
As you can guess this is super hard on me 'cause he was my designated cat. It's also been super hard on my mom, 'cause he was truly her cat. Completely devoted to her.
So I ask for your prayers for my family especially my mom, and for Edward and that he handles the loss of his buddy and brother. I'm doing fairly well during the day, but not so well when it's time to sleep. My mind begins to wonder. We do know that 16 years is an amazing life for a cat. That does help in some ways, but it does make for a much closer bond and a much more intense heart break.
I am sorry I don't have a picture of him to post (I have many, but they are pre-digital camera days). As soon as I can get near a scanner (we can't locate the software for our's to reload it) I will get some put up.