While Carrie Thomas, mother of murder victim Jayme Thomas, and I were talking on the telephone Dec. 14, a neighbor came to her door and told her that Jayme’s little cat had just been run over by a car.

Jayme told me about her little cat the day we visited in the park.

Her mother, Carrie was already suffering from grief with loss of her daughter and now Jayme’s cat was killed on a road near their house.

As Carrie tried to continue a conversation with me I struggled to know how to respond, given all the pain I could imagine she was in feeling.

I listened on the telephone as she struggled to tell me about the loss, saying how precious that cat was to Jayme and how the cat had shown signs of grief from missing Jayme.

“It was just yesterday that for the first time since Jayme’s death that the cat was willing to sit on my lap,” Carrie said.

As I listened all I could think of to say was “Maybe, Jayme wanted the company of her cat in Heaven."

“Maybe so," Carrie said, "Maybe so, I didn’t think of that.”

What unbelievable pain for one family to bear.