Fans of TNT's The Closer may have read about the real tears shed when Kyra Sedgwick's character, Brenda Leigh Johnson, put her cat, Miss Kitty, to sleep on a recent episode. Miss Kitty has been on the series since being adopted in the first season of the series.
Miss Kitty allowed us to see the softer, cuddly side of the tough Chief. But when the cat developed a terminal illness (in real life), the show's creator decided not to replace her. In Miss Kitty's final scene (and the episode's final scene), Brenda is at home, hugging her one last time as the vet arrives to put her to sleep; tears are falling and the screen fades to black. Since Kyra had recently experienced this same situation with her own cat, you can imagine that it wasn't too difficult for her to shed some real tears.
The next week's episode took the story line a bit further as Brenda carries around a container of Miss Kitty's ashes in her famous tote bag. It seems that she hasn't quite decided what she should do with them. And during the course of the day she periodically pulls the container from her bag and you can see the reactions of others. The following week the story continues when you see that she has Miss Kitty's carrier and toys in the back seat of her car -- she plans to donate the items so that some other cat can make use of them.
I like that the show's writers keep the story line going. We all know that grief and practical matters remain long after a pet's death. The photo shown here is one of a gallery of photos in memory of Miss Kitty.
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Related reading: Goodbye, Friend: Healing Wisdom for Anyone Who Has Ever Lost a Pet.
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