Description
In December 2013, we suffered another loss in our little family group as Sasha, the sibling to Ariel (See cache GC4Q953), also passed away after about 16 1/2 human years. She had put up an amazing fight against cancer and the last 4-6 weeks we knew she was clinging on to life purely for our benefit as we were having an extremely tough time saying good-bye to our last family pet after having to send her sister to heaven only about 9 months prior to this. Even when we knew what had to be done, it was so hard to follow through. Somehow it was harder this second time around to send another our long time pets on her way. At first, we hoped she'd find a way to fight it off and she did seemed to have improved a little giving us hope. Then as she continued to decline, our daughter's birthday drew near. Our precious Sasha kept hanging on, a mere shadow of herself and unable to eat anymore, or barely even move. Still she was strong rarely even meowing to complain. Once enough days passed so our daughter wouldn't associate the cat's death with her own birth, and Christmas was still far enough away, we said good-bye one last time.
It's been 2+ years and we did replace them with another sibling pair in that time, but their memories burn strong and still bring tears to my eyes. Pets attach themselves to their owner's hearts that is impossible to explain to non-pet owners. They are a source of strength and comfort in sad times, and a catalyst in happy times. They are stress relief from simply patting them or playing with them. They are part of our families.
While Ariel had loved everyone and anyone, Sasha was truly my cat. She would always be with me given a choice. And would always forgive me first (while her sister Ariel continued to literally turn her back on us when we were in the same room) when we returned from family trips where we left them in care of pet-sitters. Typically during these absences, Sasha would hide under our bed and sulk when the sitters where there checking on them. All the sitters would get from her were a hiss if they did happen to find her hiding spot. But after her sister (who was the "family" cat and came to everyone) passed away, she immediately took on the broader role in our household of being a companion and protector of our kids and being the pet for us all. The thing I'll remember and miss the most is how every morning, with-out fail, she would follow me to the bathroom and keep me company as I got ready for a day at work. She started this the first or second day we brought her home from the humane society as a tiny kitten, and never stopped until she could barely move towards the end. During those mornings, whether I patted her or not, she would start purring just sharing that time and space with me. It brought me such comfort and inner peace. I really miss that.
This is a child friendly cache full of kid tradeables but depending on your approach, the terrain can be a tough. I'd recommend sticking to the west bush line even though it's a longer path to GZ as should be a smoother walk. I am really hoping cachers bring their kids or nieces/nephews etc along with them to find this cache and in this theme... anyone can sign this log, but an optional challenge is to come here with a young cacher and let them make the find (with or with-out your guidance). I will recognize the first to sign the log, first to electronically record the find, FTF the cache and FTF the cache with child(ren). FTF certificate will be emailed out upon request.
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To preserve the caching experience, please replace the hide as good as or better than found but keeping in mind hopefully lots of kids will be searching for this cache. It will not be winter friendly, although I suppose if the kids want to dig around, there are finite possibilities. Coordinates are an average of multiple attempts and fine-tuned with google maps and look to the hint for some final guidance.
What's with the bracket stuff in the title you may be wondering?
It's simply my personal identifier. The last letter (or sometimes the only letter) refers to the hide itself and choices will be:
Traditional style of hide - typically the hide should be a typical container hidden in a "typical" caching way
Kid friendly hide - child reachable, findable and room for tradeables. Aimed at the little cachers.
and Evil style of hide - Something about it that makes me rub my hands together maniacally in anticipation. Perhaps more unique camo, different hiding technique, lots of options at GZ...
If there is two letters together, the first will refer to the style of cache. Puzzle, Multi, Earth, Letterbox etc.
The number after the dash simply is the number of hides in that series for me. Don't expect this number to get too big.
No FTF certificate available, but I will list out the "firsts" later (First to Sign/Find and First to Log Find Electronically)
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Congratulations to the following cachers:
FTF (met all requirements): JB.
FTS (sign the log): JB.
FTL (log electronically): JB.