I Kept A Secret For Too Long

So I've been telling my kids for years that the neighbor's cat who disappeared last summer was hit by a car and taken to an animal hospital. But in reality, we found it dead on our driveway one night. It looked so peaceful and I thought if I told them this way, they wouldn't be as upset about their loss. Now every time I see that spot on the road where it happened, I feel like such a liar. It's not like hiding the truth would have changed anything, but I still can't shake the guilt of having to look my children in the eye and tell them a story just so they could cope with one less worry about their day. Sometimes I wish I was better at being honest even when it hurts.