Little did I know that this would be the last of her Photo Shoots, she who adored posing for the camera... my constant Companion and Friend for over 20 Years. The Light was so Bright... as if calling her to It... I gave up on photographing her because of the intensity of the Light. We had joked that she was winking at me in the last shots... I wonder, did she know it was almost Time? That she would be passing by Morning through the Veil... from Time into Eternity?
So it is with a Heavy Heart that I write this Post on this sad Morning... she had been particularly ill lately so I can't say this was a total surprise, though I had been somewhat in denial, Hoping perhaps it was a catlike Flu... because she had rebounded in the past week and been more like her old self... and I had been so relieved and happy. You see I had been selfish, twenty plus years had just not been enough of a relationship with a Fur Baby that had captured my Heart from the start and who favored me and shadowed me everywhere I went around the house... sitting with me while I spent endless hours creating... watching TV right at my side... asking for her daily facial massages in our chair as we languished together... and always sleeping at my feet every Night from as far back now as I can remember it seems. She was always there to listen, you know, when people get weary or didn't have the time to share a confidence. It didn't matter what mood or frame of mind I was in, she sidled up to me and insisted I pay attention to her and it would ALWAYS cheer me up and make me feel a particular calm and Peace in my Spirit. I suppose in Cat Years she had been over 140 and yet she kept herself immaculately groomed, even though squeezing into the litterbox had become somewhat of a challenge in recent years. She had never been outside and never desired to be... the World out there seemed to frighten her... and so her World was our feathered Nest and she ruled it with a dignified quiet Grace... it was her domain and every other Fur Baby over the years must defer to her Queenly presence as she dominated the scene. She had come to us quite frail and not expected to survive you see. In the old neighborhood our next door neighbor worked at a plastic's Factory and brought her Home one day... an orphaned Kitten only weeks old and as tiny as a Rat... hence her name... Rat Boy... as at first it was difficult to distinguish that he was actually a she you see, and by then it just didn't seem right to change it! The Neighbor had a Cat that had just had kittens and he Hoped she would adopt this tiny Orphan... quite the runt and much smaller than her own litter. They were going on vacation and asked me to take care of the house and animals while they were away... don't worry if the Orphan doesn't survive he'd said... we don't really expect it to.
She wasn't thriving and I could tell, so I reluctantly brought her Home... and with Love and attention showered upon her she not only survived but thrived... though she still had a strange attraction to Plastics and would chew them all the time... perhaps a remnant of a memory of her rough beginnings in the Factory? Everything Plastic in our Home would have her telltale chew marks and imprint upon them... Yes, many, many memories of my Beloved Old Friend I have... and now I release her... into the Light... knowing she has a Host of departed Loved ones awaiting her on the other side...
But oh how I will miss her... she was Special... and though very selfish to say, it was perhaps because she showed me Favor and seemed to Love me the best that our bond was so very strong... You really know when you are Loved above others... be it by Man or Beast... and isn't that always Special to us to be cherished and Loved like that?
Good-Bye Rat Boy
You were my Favorite Fur Baby too... but that Special Secret confession shall remain between us my Dear Friend... so that the others don't get jealous... *Winking back at you Girl!*
Dawn... The Bohemian