An update on Willie

I haven't been able to post on here for awhile because I haven't had access to Wifi but also because I've just been so busy playing music that I haven't wanted to or taken the time either.  I thought it would be good to update this blog on what happened to our Willie.
He went downhill fast the last part of the week we were in Grass Valley so Father's Day Sunday after we'd gone to church there in Grass Valley we decided that he would need to be put down.  Now I'm a person who absolutely hates putting an animal down unless there's just no other choice and Willie had gotten so weak and bad off that we decided we were going to just have to do it.  He couldn't eat, and was so weak that he couldn't even jump up onto our short little camper bed.  The kids or us would have to lift him up so he could lay there on our bed where he loved to sleep all day.  We even put a small amount of food and water up there for him and then John rigged a little litter box so he wouldn't have to try to get up there anymore.  It was just pitiful to see him try to jump up just a foot and not be able to make it landing on his backside each time.
Then he got sick and lost control of his bowels so we had a big mess which I was trying to clean up out there at the campsite.  Poor little fella was just ready to go home and so the Limehouse's who had a fellow Veternarian coming up to the festival had asked her if she could bring the stuff to help
Willie out.
We all went to church for Father's Day which was a very nice service and then had decided that when we got home we'd have to put him down if he was still alive.  I had to put the poor little guy into the bathtub of our camper with a blanket and all his stuff until we could get home and do this.  So after church we gathered the kids and let them all say goodbye and be there when we did this.  I had Tanner take John's and my picture holding him and saying goodbye.  John was especially close to Willie because just a couple of years ago Willie would jump up into John's lap every day for his belly scratching and he'd roll right over on his back and purr away as John would scratch his tummy.  They were especially bonded so it was hard to see the little guy in such shape and hard for us to have to do this but we knew it was the right thing to do.
We had a family prayer before we did it and I held him as he passed peacefully away and went home.
Banjo climbed up into my lap and said goodbye too and now she's been missing him off and on.  Sometimes she's okay and other times she's meowing in her siamese meow and looking for him around the house here.  Tomorrow we're going to have a funeral graveside burial for him and the kids, with the help of John are going to build him a wooden box and decorate it for him to be buried in.  I just wanted to update my last post since I had written it about Willie.  We love you little fella.