Like Alice Cooper Said

It's a snowy Sunday afternoon and I'm contemplating life. My husband is making sauce, my daughter is on a road trip and my skinny nimble cat is by my side. My other cat is, unfortunately, locked away in the bathroom where her chronic diarrhea can't harm any more expensive rugs. I go visit her every couple of hours to keep her company. Our family has been struggling with the terrible calculus of a sick pet - how much do you spend, how far do you go when initial tests don't identify the problem, how destructive/tolerable are the symptoms? My 18-year old suffers the most about this, as the cat is her soul-mate. It's a life lesson in the making, complicated by my job status and her life status: 18 and independent minded but still in high school and answerable to parents who want to see some behaviors to support the demands.

The journey to June has some unnerving milestones: acceptance by the desired college? Final grades? Boyfriend status? Job? Savings? And now: cat?