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From: RJ on 13 Jun 2008 05:55
You were the best, most loyal cat, friend & devoted companion that a
person could ever have in this world. I miss you so very much and I
always will.

You gave me 15 years of love, like no human ever did in my entire
life.

You were everything to me and I will miss you and want to see you
and be with you again, even to the day that I die and leave this world
behind me.



From: Noon Cat Nick on 13 Jun 2008 19:33
RJ wrote:
> You were the best, most loyal cat, friend & devoted companion that a
> person could ever have in this world. I miss you so very much and I
> always will.
>
> You gave me 15 years of love, like no human ever did in my entire
> life.
>
> You were everything to me and I will miss you and want to see you
> and be with you again, even to the day that I die and leave this world
> behind me.
>
>
>

http://www.indigo.org/rainbow/rainbow.swf

================================

THE JOURNEY
by Crystal Ward Kent

When you bring a pet into your life, you begin a journey--a journey that
will bring you more love and devotion than you have ever known, yet also
test your strength and courage.

If you allow, the journey will teach you many things, about life, about
yourself, and most of all, about love. You will come away changed
forever, for one soul cannot touch another without leaving its mark.
Along the way, you will learn much about savoring life's simple
pleasures--jumping in leaves, snoozing in the sun, the joys of puddles,
and even the satisfaction of a good scratch behind the ears.

If you spend much time outside, you will be taught how to truly
experience every element, for no rock, leaf, or log will go unexamined,
no rustling bush will be overlooked, and even the very air will be
inhaled, pondered, and noted as being full of valuable information.
Your pace may be slower except when heading home to the food dish--but
you will become a better naturalist, having been taught by an expert in
the field. Too many times we hike on automatic pilot, our goal being to
complete the trail rather than enjoy the journey. We miss the
details--the colorful mushrooms on the rotting log, the honeycomb in the
old maple snag, the hawk feather caught on a twig. Once we walk as a
dog does, we discover a whole new world. We stop; we browse the
landscape, we kick over leaves, peek in tree holes, look up, down, all
around. And we learn what any dog knows: that nature has created a
marvelously complex world that is full of surprises, that each cycle of
the seasons bring ever changing wonders, each day an essence all its own.

Even from indoors you will find yourself more attuned to the world
around you. You will find yourself watching summer insects collecting
on a screen or noting the flick and flash of fireflies through the dark.
You will stop to observe the swirling dance of windblown leaves, or
sniff the air after a rain. It does not matter that there is no
objective in this; the point is in the doing, in not letting life's most
important details slip by.

You will find yourself doing silly things that your pet-less friends
might not understand: spending thirty minutes in the grocery aisle
looking for the cat food brand your feline must have, buying dog
birthday treats, or driving around the block an extra time because your
pet enjoys the ride. You will roll in the snow, wrestle with chewy
toys, bounce little rubber balls till your eyes cross, and even run
around the house trailing your bathrobe tie--with a cat in hot
pursuit--all in the name of love.

Your house will become muddier and hairier. You will wear less dark
clothing and buy more lint rollers. You may find dog biscuits in your
pocket or purse, and feel the need to explain that an old plastic
shopping bag adorns your living room rug because your cat loves the
crinkly sound.

You will learn the true measure of love--the steadfast, undying kind
that says, "It doesn't matter where we are or what we do, or how life
treats us as long as we are together." Respect this always. It is the
most precious gift any living soul can give another. You will not find
it often among the human race (so true!). And you will learn humility.
The look in my dog's eyes often made me feel ashamed. Such joy and love
at my presence. She saw not some flawed human who could be cross and
stubborn, moody or rude, but only her wonderful companion. Or maybe she
saw those things and dismissed them as mere human foibles, not worth
considering, and so chose to love me anyway.

If you pay attention and learn well, when the journey is done, you will
be not just a better person, but the person your pet always knew you to
be, the one they were proud to call beloved friend.

I must caution you that this journey is not without pain. Like all
paths of true love, the pain is part of loving. For as surely as the
sun sets, one day your dear animal companion will follow a trail you
cannot yet go down. And you will have to find the strength and love to
let them go. A pet's time on earth is far too short--especially for
those that love them. We borrow them, really, just for a while, and
during these brief years they are generous enough to give us all their
love, every inch of their spirit and heart, until one day there is
nothing left. The cat that only yesterday was a kitten is all too soon
old and frail and sleeping in the sun. The young pup of boundless
energy wakes up stiff and lame, the muzzle now gray. Deep down we
somehow always knew that this journey would end. We knew that if we
gave our hearts they would be broken.

But give them we must for it is all they ask in return. When the time
comes, and the road curves ahead to a place we cannot see, we give one
final gift and let them run on ahead--young and whole once more.
"Godspeed, good friend," we say, until our journey comes full circle and
our paths cross again.

================================

Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am in a thousand winds that blow,
I am the softly falling snow.
I am the gentle showers of rain,
I am the fields of ripening grain.

I am in the morning hush,
I am in the graceful rush
Of beautiful birds in circling flight,
I am the starshine of the night.

I am in the flowers that bloom,
I am in a quiet room,
I am the birds that sing,
I am in each lovely thing.

Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there. I do not die.

--Mary K. Frye

================================

Is Heaven all you asked of it,
O little cat? Did Peter fit
A halo for your graceless head?
Is there a quilt for your special bed,
And a bowl of cream just out of reach
Of your thieving paw? Or do They teach
You not to steal in paradise?
Does the flapping of Their wings entice?
Do you scamper and swing on a golden fence,
Or are They teaching you reverence?
And are there really golden thrones
Up there? Or do the Mighty Ones
Have nice fat chairs that you can claw
And tear and snag with an impious paw?
And do the angels understand
That a little cat in a lonely land
Still longs for a kiss and a friendly cuff?

Celestial joys are not enough.
Please, some small saint in shining white,
Hold him close in your arms tonight.

--Bianca Bradbury

================================

LIVING LOVE (THE FOURTH DAY)
by Martin Scot Kosins

If you ever love an animal, there are three days in your life you will
always remember...

The first is a day, blessed with happiness, when you bring home your
young new friend. You may have spent weeks deciding on a breed. You may
have asked numerous opinions of many vets, or done long research in
finding a breeder. Or, perhaps in a fleeting moment, you may have just
chosen that silly-looking mutt in a shelter--simply because something in
its eyes reached your heart. But when you bring that chosen pet home,
and watch it explore, and claim its special place in your hall or front
room--and when you feel it brush against you for the first time--it
instills a feeling of pure love you will carry with you through the many
years to come.

The second day will occur eight or nine or ten years later. It will be a
day like any other. Routine and unexceptional. But, for a surprising
instant, you will look at your long-time friend and see age where you
once saw youth. You will see slow deliberate steps where you once saw
energy. And you will see sleep where you once saw activity. So you will
begin to adjust your friend's diet--and you may add a pill or two to her
food. And you may feel a growing fear deep within yourself, which bodes
of a coming emptiness. And you will feel this uneasy feeling, on and
off, until the third day finally arrives.

And on this day--if your friend and God have not decided for you, then
you will be faced with making a decision of your own--on behalf of your
lifelong friend, and with the guidance of your own deepest Spirit. But
whichever way your friend eventually leaves you--you will feel as alone
as a single star in the dark night. If you are wise, you will let the
tears flow as freely and as often as they must. And if you are typical,
you will find that not many in your circle of family or friends will be
able to understand your grief, or comfort you. But if you are true to
the love of the pet you cherished through the many joy-filled years, you
may find that a soul--a bit smaller in size than your own--seems to walk
with you, at times, during the lonely days to come. And at moments when
you least expect anything out of the ordinary to happen, you may feel
something brush against your leg--very very lightly. And looking down at
the place where your dear, perhaps dearest, friend used to lay--you will
remember those three significant days. The memory will most likely be
painful, and leave an ache in your heart. As time passes the ache will
come and go as it has a life of its own. You will both reject it and
embrace it, and it may confuse you. If you reject it, it will depress
you. If you embrace it, it will deepen you. Either way, it will still be
an ache.

But there will be, I assure you, a fourth day when--along with the
memory of your pet--and piercing through the heaviness in your
heart--there will come a realization that belongs only to you. It will
be as unique and strong as our relationship with each animal we have
loved, and lost. This realization takes the form of a Living Love--like
the heavenly scent of a rose that remains after the petals have wilted,
this love will remain and grow--and be there for us to remember. It is a
love we have earned. It is the legacy our pets leave us when they go.
And it is a gift we may keep with us as long as we live. It is a love
which is ours alone. And until we ourselves leave, perhaps to join our
beloved pets--it is a love that we will always possess.

================================

I shall walk in the sun alone
Whose golden light you loved:
I shall sleep alone
And, stirring, touch an empty place:
I shall write uninterrupted
(Would that your gentle paw
Could stay my moving pen just once again!).

I shall see beauty
But none to match your living grace:
I shall hear music
But not so sweet as the droning song
With which you loved me.

I shall fill my days
But I shall not, cannot forget:
Sleep soft, dear friend,
For while I live you shall not die.

--Michael Joseph

================================

Rise up, slowly, Angel.
I cannot let you go.
Just drift softly 'midst the faces,
In sorrow now bent low.

Ease the searing anger,
Born in harsh, unyielding truth
That Death could steal my loved one
From the glowing blush of youth.

Rise up slowly, Angel.
Do not leave me here, alone,
Where the warmth of mortal essence
Lies replaced by cold, hard stone.

Speak to me in breezes
Whispered through the drying leaves,
And caress my brow with raindrops
Filtered by the sheltering trees.

Rise up slowly, Angel,
For I cannot hear the song
Which calls you through the shadows
Into the light beyond.

Wrap me in a downy cape
Of sunshine, warm with love,
And kiss a tear-stained mother's face
With moonlight from above.

Then, wait for me at sunset,
Beside the lily pond,
And guide me safely homeward
To your world, which lies beyond.

Just spread your arms to take me
In reunion's sweet embrace,
And we shall soar, together,
To a different time and place.

--Diane Robertson

================================

THERE IS A NEW STAR SHINING IN THE SKY TONIGHT...
by Sarah Hartwell

There is an old belief that the stars shining in the night sky are the
spirits of those who have died. They have shed their earthly bodies and
exchanged them for bodies made of light; thousands upon thousands of our
dear departed friends all promoted to glory in the night sky. There is
another saying that the brightest flame burns the shortest.

My friend, you were the brightest star in my own universe. While I burn
on, my flame dimmed by grief and despair at your passing, the stars are
watching me. They are too far away for me to touch, just as you have
gone somewhere I cannot follow until my own star-time comes. They cannot
be held close for comfort, just as I can no longer hold you close. We
were together for such a short time, but the stars will burn forever.

One day I will grow tired of this earthbound body, my own star-time will
come and my spirit will soar into the sky to burn with all those friends
who have gone before me. On the inky cloth of space we will be reunited
in constellations of joy. Until then, my flame burns low and dim and
cold without you. Through my tears I look upwards to see if you are
watching me and what do I see?

There is a new star shining in the sky tonight.

================================

With you a part of me hath passed away;
For in the peopled forest of my mind
A tree made leafless by this wintry wind
Shall never don again its green array.
Chapel and fireside, country road and bay,
Have something of their friendliness resigned;
Another, if I would, I could not find,
And I am grown much older in a day.
But yet I treasure in my memory
Your gift of charity, and young hearts ease,
And the dear honour of your amity;
For these once mine, my life is rich with these.
And I scarce know which part may greater be,--
What I keep of you, or you rob from me.

--George Santayana

================================

Deep peace of the running wave to you.
Deep peace of the flowing air to you.
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you.
Deep peace of the shining stars to you.
Deep peace of the infinite peace to you.

--adapted from Gaelic runes

================================

Aion�a afto� e mn�me--May his memory be eternal.

--from the Eastern Orthodox requiem service

================================
Warm summer sun
Shine kindly here,
Warm southern wind
Blow softly here,
Green sod above
Lie light, lie light--
Good night, dear heart,
Good night, good night.

--Robert Richardson, adapted from his poem "Annette" in _Willow and
Wattle_ (1893) by Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain) as the epitaph
for his daughter, Olivia Susan Clemens


Take care,
Nicholas
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