Killing the cats

Last night I had a BIZARRE dream about killing cats. For a while, it seemed perfectly logical. Although it's true that I am not a big cat fan, we used to own a cat and I am, in general, not a cruel and horrible person. (Although I cannot vouch for anything that I do while suffering from PMS.)

Anyhoo, there were two cats - one was calico, the other black and it was my job to exterminate them. They apparently were part of our family - not our house, but our family. (Yeah, makes no sense. I know. Just stick with me for a bit.) Somehow, I got both of them into two separate cat carriers. (Sidenote: Try saying CAT CARRIERS fast, three times.) The cat carriers were covered up somehow, so the cats were literally and figuratively in the dark.

I then met up with, I think, my sister, and we discussed the extermination of the cats. I had decided that the cats would be drowned, but then sis and I decided that would be kind of cruel. So then we agreed that I'd just let them loose and they'd figure out life on their own.

W. T. F. ?!

So then I got up this morning and thought about this dream which, as I mentioned, seemed perfectly sane while I was dreaming it. All of a sudden, I realized what this dream meant. Are you ready? Here it goes:

MY PARENTS ARE THE CATS.

Yep, that's what I came up with. Here's why I think that: Yesterday, Hubby and I visited another assisted living facility. This one was MUCH better than the last, with the only real downside being that their "apartment" would be basically just a single room with attached bathroom. No kitchen. All meals would have to be taken with the community, which is very nice. The staff seemed super sweet and a lady whose mom lives there saw us touring and, unprompted, said: "This place ROCKS." All in all, it was nice, although slightly too much of the "assisted" with not much independence. I'm not sure that's the right fit, not that Mom and Dad aren't in need of a lot of assistance and less independence.

But I guess I was thinking about what kind of place I was willing to "leave" them at. My sister and I were comparing this process to dropping your kid off at college. You want to make sure the fit is perfect so that you don't get one of those phone calls that says: "I hate this place. Come and get me, PLEASE." It's a very tricky dynamic, to say the least.

So that's why I think that, in my dream, my parents are the cats. I'm trying to re-situate my parents (for THEIR well-being) and feel pretty guilty about it, like, in a way, I'm slowly killing them. I know, that's overly dramatic, but I kind of feel that way. I take this VERY seriously. I can't do anything to them that I wouldn't do to myself.

Yep, cats.