This has been a very stressful week in the Heinisch home. Changes at Doug's work and the waivering back and forth from the Elkhart County Health Department about schools opening in person have been upsetting to say the least. The worst part of our week occurred today, however, when Atmo lost his battle to stay alive. As sad as it was for all of us, it was even more heartbreaking to watch Rizzo try to comfort him in his last few hours. We do not know what Atmo's cause of death was, we just know that he had been eating less and on Tuesday he stopped completely and wouldn't even take in water. He also started making a meowing sound that we had never heard before this week. Meg held out hope that it was something that he would recover from until yesterday when it was obvious that his little body was struggling just to breathe.
I was sad when Cosmo and Apollo died, but with Atmo it was even more difficult to watch. I don't know if it was because I felt terrible for Rizzo or if it was because Cam, Meg and I had really enjoyed the "pigs" these past few months. Taking them outside was one of our favorite social distancing activity. Their behavior was a bright spot during a challenging time in our lives. They loved their new houses and we each laughed about them cramming themselves into one when they were scared (or when Cameorn tried to feed them.) It was that shared space that they retreated to in the end and it was nice to know that Atmo didn't have to die alone. I know that so many have lost so much more these past five months, but for us this was a hard blow. All I can hope for now is that things only get better from here.
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