Empathy?

So here’s a thing about me. I am empathetic. Sometimes I feel like my heart can jump into someone else’s body and literally FEEL what they are going through. It’s a sweet thing, but since I’m also quite emotional, it is something that makes me cry a bit. (a bit too much, if you ask the Hubbs. And you may agree once you read this story!) Well, apparently I empathize with animals, too. And not just animals, but rodents. Yep. We found we had a mouse in our garage. A cute little scurrying fellow running from here to there. Of course mice, as cute as they may be, ( I see you making a disgusted face. Stop it. Haven’t you ever seen Cinderella? Jacque? Gus Gus? HELLO-cute,) they carry BAD things that we do NOT want in our house. So we needed to buy a trap. What? Kill that little fellow? Oh no, just capture him to be released in a much more pleasant place! Away we went to Lowes to buy our live trap. Jeff gallantly put peanut butter in the end and set it up outside. Yesterday morning before work I checked it. No mouse. Then, when I got home from work, Jeff told me it worked! Except the mouse died L Do you think I was just glad to be rid of Mr. Mouse? Oh no. I cried for him. REAL TEARS. What if he suffered. Suffocated? Drowned? Starved? Had a heart attack from fear? I was actually truly sad for the poor little creature. Then Jeff saw another mouse. So we set the trap again. But this time I was bound and determined not to let the mousey die. So when Olivia woke up in the middle hours of the night to eat, after she went back to sleep I crept down to the trap to be sure there was no mouse perishing because of us. The trap was clear! The next time I checked the trap it was full! So I bravely took the contraption, trying not to shake it too much to scare the poor fellow, and let the mouse out near a creek in our neighborhood. It took forever to get that mouse out! I opened the lid and could see his tail, but even when I tilted the trap all the way vertical that darn guy would not escape. Then I began to worry he was dead! Should I tug at his tail? I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Should I take him back to the house so Jeff could help? With one more little rattle I opened the door and out he scurried. YAY! The mouse is free and alive and happy! As I’m walking back to the house I decide the light plastic trap is a bit heavy still. So when I get to the front porch where there is light, I open the trap door again and WHOOP! Out jumps ANOTHER mousey! There were 2 mice in there! How did that happen? Well I let out a little squeal of surprise, fear, and worry that he may have hurt himself on that long fall. But he scurried off, probably to enjoy another meal from our compost pile, while I literally fretted and maybe shed a tear over the fact that he was now separated from his brother/sister/mother/wife/best friend, who was also scared, lost, alone out there where he’d never been before. So again, we set the trap and wait. What was there this morning? A THIRD mouse! Jeff was kind enough to free him this time, since he was on his way to work and I was playing with the baby. I sure hope it was the mouse from last night and he is now happily reunited with his friend. How many mice can we have? A whole litter? YIKES! I can tell you the trap works, though. (except for the first unfortunate and devastating time.) We’ll keep trapping setting those mice free until they are all in a happier place! And that is a thing about me.