There were once two brothers, John and Fred. The lived with their 88 year old mother and their 12 year old cat.
John loved the cat but one week he needed to travel abroad and so was away. He gave Fred detailed instructions on how to look after it.
The day after he flew off he phoned Fred to see how everything was. He phoned again the next day and the day after that,
On the fourth day he phoned again. When he asked after the cat he was told that it had died. He was shocked to hear that.
When he recovered himself he said to Fred "That was thoughtless. Why didn't you break it to me gently. You could have said something like, 'she's okay but she's up on the roof.' And then when I called the next time, tell me 'oh, bad news, she fell off the roof and she's at the vets'. And then the next time break the news that she passed away. At least I'd have been a little prepared."
Fred agreed he'd been a bit thoughtless. John accepted his apology. He then asked Fred about their mother.
"Well, John," said Fred "she's okay, but she's up on the roof"!!