…not in my heart, but on my todo list, anyway…
Our 19-yr-old cat, Zed, died.
I wrote a whole obituary in my head for him about six months ago.
Then, as the time drew near, then passed, I wrote and rewrote it. But, I never actually wrote it, wrote it, as in wrote it down, typed it out, committed it to any form that other people could see. The problem is, in my head, it kept coming out in a journalistic style (maybe because I went to journalism school.) But he deserved better than that. He deserved a love letter, or a beautiful poem. Maybe I will put together a Haiku for him soon. The fact that when thinking about a Haiku I get excited that cat rhymes with lots of other words is proof that I will not be able to write with the beauty his special soul deserves.
He was a great cat with many quirky, endearing habits. Ridiculously patient with children, he loved to lay in the hot, hot sun.
But he is gone.
And while we did not “replace” him, we did add two large dogs to our family.
Although, technically, one is a “foster” dog.
She is an 8-yr-old boxer (a breed with a particularly short life-expectancy). And, all signs point to the fact that she has cancer. So even if we do officially adopt her, chances are she won’t be with us all that long. Her name is Lucy. And while she is still “just a foster dog,” she is occupying space on my couch, and my todo list, and, honestly, in my heart.
The other dog is Boomer. He is a Black Mouth Cur. Yup, that is a real breed. I have a whole post written (in my head – where I apparently like to keep these things) about how to get the best dog at the shelter. And about how I almost ignored my own advice and passed Boomer by.
With these two dogs (and the dog we already had), with the two cats we STILL have, with the children, the holidays, my desire to work out… well, I miss blogging. But we might be reduced to pictures for awhile.
In the meantime, here’s Boomer…
Obituaries can’t even begin to capture the essence of our furry companion animals. I am so sorry on your loss, but so jealous that you got one to live to 19. Boomer is a handsome boy. Who looks like he’s full of mischief! Congratulations on your new additions. (and I also store my blog postings in my head!)
Sorry for the loss of Zed. It is so hard when a pet passes after so much time as part of your life every day. Hope the two canines bring much joy. (I’ve been dreaming of a boxer myself, but I need to research this lifespan stuff.)
Yup. If we all could read each other’s blog-posts-in-our-heads, we could save a LOT of time typing.