(no subject)

[senoritafish]

For Stimpy, this time...

In Memory of Our Cat, Ralph

When we got home, it was almost dark.
Our neighbor waited on the walk.
"I'm sorry I have bad news," he said.
"Your cat, the gray-black one, is dead.
I found him by the garage an hour ago."
"Thank you, " I said, "for letting us know."

We dug a hole in the flower bed,
The lilac bushes overhead,
Where this cat loved to lie in spring
And roll in the dirt and eat the green
Delicious first spring buds,
And laid him down and covered him up,
Wrapped in a piece of tablecloth,
Our good old cat laid in the earth.

We quickly turned and went inside
The empty house and sat and cried
Softly in the dark some tears
For that familiar voice, that fur,
That soft weight missing from our laps,
That we had loved too well perhaps
And mourned from weakness of the heart:
A childish weakness, to regard
An animal whose life is brief
With such affection and such grief.

If this is foolish, so it be.
He was good company,
And we miss his gift
Of cat affection while he lived,
The sweet shy nature
Of that graceful creature
Who gave the pleasure of himself:
The memory of our cat, Ralph.
- Garrison Keillor

Comments

[onnas-baka-gaki.livejournal.com]

Ugh, so sorry to hear about losing your furry family member.

The wee beasties are such a part of our lives and leave gaping holes around our ankles, foots of beds and on our laps when they move on.

Hugs to you and your family!

[senoritafish.livejournal.com]

Thanks Onna. They certainly do. He was really more John's cat than mine, but we all miss him a lot.

[nugatorytm.livejournal.com]

(((HUGS)))

I know this feeling all too well. Stimpy was a handsome fellow. Was he a tabby or tortoiseshell mix?

[senoritafish.livejournal.com]

Hugs back. Yeah, familiar to us too - he's the third cat I've memorialized here, and I'm certain won't be the last, but as it says above, "if this is foolish, so it be." And happy to be so. :')

He looked black at first glance, but he was actually what's called a "smoke tabby" - in the sun, you could see he actually had stripes, and his underfur was gray. There are a few more pics of him in the post following this one.

*Sigh* He was pretty elderly (two years older than my oldest son) and and getting pretty creaky; we were kind of expecting it soon, but not the way it happened.

[i-bookwyrme.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry :( It's so hard to lose a loved pet.

[senoritafish.livejournal.com]

It never gets any easier, does it? And yet, we can't stop putting ourselves through it. Something important would be missing if we did. Thanks.