When I was a kid I had a kitten named Willie Akers. Willie Akers was our local championship basketball coach. I didn't have poor Willie for a week when my mom picked me up from school one day. I should have known something was wrong because she NEVER picked us up and she didn't pick up my brother and sister, just me.
She tearfully started to apologize to me and proceeded to tell me that she had accidentally run over poor Willie in the driveway. She didn't even know what she hit when she hit him. She just saw him dead in the driveway after she backed up to the road and stopped to checked traffic. An accident. 
She took me home and showed me where she had buried him next to the wall where the big forsythia bush was. She had found some vines with big purple flowers and draped them over the wall and poor Willie's resting place. It was really quite pretty. 
I'm sure I probably had another cat within a week or so but I don't remember that part.
Once I had left home my mom and dad got 2 pure white, persian kittens. They were ethereal in their delicate beauty. One day my 6 foot brother walked in and sat on the couch to visit everybody. He sat on a comforter on the couch. He was devastated to find when he got up that he had squashed and smothered both kittens. 
Unfortunately we were a cruel family and even though we were sorry that the kittens died we couldn't help but joke about how my brother killed the cats! What asses we were! 
Of course, his ass is what murdered them to begin with! 
I couldnt resist that one. 
Another time I looked out my window one day to see my cat laying in the grass. I knew she was dead immediately because of the position she was in but also because one of her legs was laying a few feet away from her. I watched a a pit bull dragging a chain left the yard. I reported the dog to animal control but all they did was take it in and as soon as the owners posted bond they gave it back to them.
My heartbreak didn't matter to them at all. 
Later that day I went to the animal shelter to get a cat. I got a cat that had 7 front toes on each foot and an extra toe on each back foot. The defect made her fur fan out and her feet looked feathered like a clydesdale horse. It was the only five minutes I was happy that day.
On the way back from the animal shelter I pulled into the side of another car. Completely my fault. The damage to my car was negligible but he couldn't open either driver's side door. I offered to get him another car just like it (it was a junker and they were easy to find) and he agreed since the car he was in was still driveable and then he would have 2 cars.
Unfortunately I couldn't find a car for him. He ended up suing me for repairs that were worth more than the car was. My insurance company was furious with me because I went into court and claimed complete fault and told them to pay the man he had waited long enough for his money and he had been more than reasonable.
They argued they didn't have to pay more than the value of the car. Fortunately the magistrate agreed with the man and made the insurance company pay for his repairs. I also apologized to the man because I had tried to get him a comparable car, I just couldn't find one.
Sometimes all you can do is make the best of a bad situation.
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