How tragic for you to have lost your two friends at pretty much the same time. While they can never be replaced, we can get new furry friends in time. I’m a dog person and I still miss every dog I ever had that died long before I was ready to have him or her gone. But I love my new furfriends and marvel at how distinct each personality is from every one who came before, though the loyalty and love they give has been the one constant with them all.
Haha, that is one of the many reasons I like having a lot of cats at all times. While each is special and unique in his or her own way, and for that reason they aren’t replaceable, it eases the burden of loss to have others around already. Most of the cats we’ve had chose us, not the other way around. Came into our lives serendipitously. There are eight here with us, at the present time. Our high water mark was 14. Yes, I qualify as a crazy cat lady. :)
I joke that there is an invisible (except to cats) neon “Vacancy” sign above our house. Really, though, I am convinced that God leads them to us (or, in one case, us to her, when we found a tiny kitten with multiple injuries, who wouldn’t have survived had we not been sent to her at the moment we were. That’s another long story for another time, though!)