Goodbye to my Friend.

Goodbye to my Friend

Today my friend went to sleep. He has been having troubles these last
few weeks with his heart and today a clot broke loose and paralyzed his
back legs. Deeply saddened that our fight was over I took him to the pet
hospital where he laid gently in my wife's arms with his head resting on
my lap until he fell asleep. So gentle was his passing that I was the
last to realize he was gone, at last he was out of pain. I still agonize
over the decision. In my heart I know I did everything possible to keep
the cat he was, alive. The last few days he was slipping away, not just
his body but his essence, that part of him that made him my friend.
Putting him to sleep was the humane decision, intellectually I know this
and in my heart I felt that he truly would have agreed if he could have
spoken but I could see in his eyes as I lay petting him this morning,
that he was asking for my help. Help me, take the pain away. So I did
the last thing I could do for you my friend, I took away your pain.

Tommy came into our lives when he was about seven months old. My
daughter and I went to a cat adoption fair at Petsmart. Among all the
animals one stood out, a young male kitten hiding under the newspapers
in his cage as he peeked at the strangers surrounding him. Most people
ignored him, who wants a scaredy cat and when a few did stop to look he
would cringe under his flimsy protection from the world. But something
different happened when my daughter approached the cage, for the first
time he crawled out from under his newspaper and brushed against the
cage; his new family had arrived and he didn't have to hide anymore.

We learned that Tommy was rescued from a trailer park where he had been
abandoned, we learned that he had a very difficult kittenhood, that he
had been locked away and nearly starved, that without a mother he had
taught himself how to survive. Tommy would carry the scars from that
time the rest of his life and he would become very upset at any closed
doors in the house, except for the exterior doors, he had no desire to
go out there. Tommy also was careful to never miss a meal and it was a
few years before he became comfortable with an empty food bowl. His fear
of starving showed as he grew to be an enormous thirty-four pound tom
cat. Strangely, he was never graceful even as a kitten. I'll never
forget the time he was sitting on the edge of my desk surveying the
household and for no reason slipped and fell in the trash can. His ego
was bruised more than his body. When we found Tommy at the adoption fair
he had no whiskers, he had been attacked by another cat who had chewed
his whiskers off, perhaps this made him clumsy.

My daughters never really took to Tommy and neither did my wife. To
them, he was the grumpy old cat who would took swipes at their legs as
they walked past, never breaking skin but reminding them who had the
claws. Tommy never liked kids and he didn't like girls in particular,
the younger they were the less he liked them and they were rarely
properly deferential toward his status as king of the house; because to
Tommy you see, it was his house, his rules. Eventually he grew to
challenge me, one day as he lay in my bathroom sink I tried to shoo him
out and he took a swipe at me with his claws. As he recovered from his
quick flight across the room he must have decided that second place was
good enough as from that moment on he became my loyal friend. After his
attempted coup d’état failed Tommy followed me from room to room always
flopping down near my feet. Sometimes he would nearly trip me when he
would silently flop down at my heels as I stood at the kitchen counter.
When I left the house Tommy would lay in the window and watch for my
return. He would always be sitting near the door waiting for me as I
entered. At nighttime he would jump on the bed and flop himself down on
my chest nearly cutting off my air while he lay with his nose inches
from mine, purring and blowing his stinky breath in my face. Careful
though, if I dared breath in his face I would get the look that says,
'this is not how things work' and he would get up and lay at my feet.
Tommy was the softest animal I've ever petted and people loved to touch
him. I used to joke that when he died I would make a rug from his pelt
to throw in the floor and it would be like he never left, just cheaper.
As he lay asleep in my arms today I remembered my jest and would have
maybe smiled but his beautiful fur was ruined where the doctors had
shaved his side, his neck and his paw last week in order to save his
life. The dumb things you think of and it made me that much sadder that
he had suffered yet more indignities for so little gain. People comfort
themselves with thoughts that their loved ones go to heaven and they are
up there, happy and looking down watching over us. I so much wish I
could believe something like that it would ease the emptiness in my
heart, it would relieve the anguish each time I look down expecting to
see my friend and he is not there.

Tommy lived the life he wanted to live. Despite a rough start to life
and beating odds that nearly killed him, he lived happily, eating well,
being my happy loyal friend to the end. I didn't judge him and he didn't
judge me, we were just happy being. I hope my friend that you understand
what I did and that a dignified death was the best I could do. Goodbye.
I miss you.

http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/2...ykittengw1.jpg
http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/4...en07001la9.jpg

Tommy
2002 - 5/31/2008

Thank you to the people that offered advice and support.

"Mac Cool" wrote in message
...
Goodbye to my Friend

Today my friend went to sleep. He has been having troubles these last
few weeks with his heart and today a clot broke loose and paralyzed his
back legs. Deeply saddened that our fight was over I took him to the pet
hospital where he laid gently in my wife's arms with his head resting on
my lap until he fell asleep. So gentle was his passing that I was the
last to realize he was gone, at last he was out of pain.

I'm so sorry you had to lose Tommy. I can tell how much you loved him
and he loved you.

You did the kindest thing for him, please try not to doubt your decision.

It would have been selfish of you to keep him longer, you spared him
a great deal of pain.

My heart goes out to you. It is so hard to lose a good friend of any
species.

I love your Tommy's story, below. He had such a good friend in you!

No cat could have done better.


I still agonize
over the decision. In my heart I know I did everything possible to keep
the cat he was, alive. The last few days he was slipping away, not just
his body but his essence, that part of him that made him my friend.
Putting him to sleep was the humane decision, intellectually I know this
and in my heart I felt that he truly would have agreed if he could have
spoken but I could see in his eyes as I lay petting him this morning,
that he was asking for my help. Help me, take the pain away. So I did
the last thing I could do for you my friend, I took away your pain.

Tommy came into our lives when he was about seven months old. My
daughter and I went to a cat adoption fair at Petsmart. Among all the
animals one stood out, a young male kitten hiding under the newspapers
in his cage as he peeked at the strangers surrounding him. Most people
ignored him, who wants a scaredy cat and when a few did stop to look he
would cringe under his flimsy protection from the world. But something
different happened when my daughter approached the cage, for the first
time he crawled out from under his newspaper and brushed against the
cage; his new family had arrived and he didn't have to hide anymore.

We learned that Tommy was rescued from a trailer park where he had been
abandoned, we learned that he had a very difficult kittenhood, that he
had been locked away and nearly starved, that without a mother he had
taught himself how to survive. Tommy would carry the scars from that
time the rest of his life and he would become very upset at any closed
doors in the house, except for the exterior doors, he had no desire to
go out there. Tommy also was careful to never miss a meal and it was a
few years before he became comfortable with an empty food bowl. His fear
of starving showed as he grew to be an enormous thirty-four pound tom
cat. Strangely, he was never graceful even as a kitten. I'll never
forget the time he was sitting on the edge of my desk surveying the
household and for no reason slipped and fell in the trash can. His ego
was bruised more than his body. When we found Tommy at the adoption fair
he had no whiskers, he had been attacked by another cat who had chewed
his whiskers off, perhaps this made him clumsy.

My daughters never really took to Tommy and neither did my wife. To
them, he was the grumpy old cat who would took swipes at their legs as
they walked past, never breaking skin but reminding them who had the
claws. Tommy never liked kids and he didn't like girls in particular,
the younger they were the less he liked them and they were rarely
properly deferential toward his status as king of the house; because to
Tommy you see, it was his house, his rules. Eventually he grew to
challenge me, one day as he lay in my bathroom sink I tried to shoo him
out and he took a swipe at me with his claws. As he recovered from his
quick flight across the room he must have decided that second place was
good enough as from that moment on he became my loyal friend. After his
attempted coup d'état failed Tommy followed me from room to room always
flopping down near my feet. Sometimes he would nearly trip me when he
would silently flop down at my heels as I stood at the kitchen counter.
When I left the house Tommy would lay in the window and watch for my
return. He would always be sitting near the door waiting for me as I
entered. At nighttime he would jump on the bed and flop himself down on
my chest nearly cutting off my air while he lay with his nose inches
from mine, purring and blowing his stinky breath in my face. Careful
though, if I dared breath in his face I would get the look that says,
'this is not how things work' and he would get up and lay at my feet.
Tommy was the softest animal I've ever petted and people loved to touch
him. I used to joke that when he died I would make a rug from his pelt
to throw in the floor and it would be like he never left, just cheaper.
As he lay asleep in my arms today I remembered my jest and would have
maybe smiled but his beautiful fur was ruined where the doctors had
shaved his side, his neck and his paw last week in order to save his
life. The dumb things you think of and it made me that much sadder that
he had suffered yet more indignities for so little gain. People comfort
themselves with thoughts that their loved ones go to heaven and they are
up there, happy and looking down watching over us. I so much wish I
could believe something like that it would ease the emptiness in my
heart, it would relieve the anguish each time I look down expecting to
see my friend and he is not there.

Tommy lived the life he wanted to live. Despite a rough start to life
and beating odds that nearly killed him, he lived happily, eating well,
being my happy loyal friend to the end. I didn't judge him and he didn't
judge me, we were just happy being. I hope my friend that you understand
what I did and that a dignified death was the best I could do. Goodbye.
I miss you.

http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/2...ykittengw1.jpg
http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/4...en07001la9.jpg

Tommy
2002 - 5/31/2008

Thank you to the people that offered advice and support.

My sympathy for your loss. You made a truly loving decision.

--
Joy

Constant change is here to stay.

"Mac Cool" wrote in message
...
Goodbye to my Friend

Today my friend went to sleep. He has been having troubles these last
few weeks with his heart and today a clot broke loose and paralyzed his
back legs. Deeply saddened that our fight was over I took him to the pet
hospital where he laid gently in my wife's arms with his head resting on
my lap until he fell asleep. So gentle was his passing that I was the
last to realize he was gone, at last he was out of pain. I still agonize
over the decision. In my heart I know I did everything possible to keep
the cat he was, alive. The last few days he was slipping away, not just
his body but his essence, that part of him that made him my friend.
Putting him to sleep was the humane decision, intellectually I know this
and in my heart I felt that he truly would have agreed if he could have
spoken but I could see in his eyes as I lay petting him this morning,
that he was asking for my help. Help me, take the pain away. So I did
the last thing I could do for you my friend, I took away your pain.

Tommy came into our lives when he was about seven months old. My
daughter and I went to a cat adoption fair at Petsmart. Among all the
animals one stood out, a young male kitten hiding under the newspapers
in his cage as he peeked at the strangers surrounding him. Most people
ignored him, who wants a scaredy cat and when a few did stop to look he
would cringe under his flimsy protection from the world. But something
different happened when my daughter approached the cage, for the first
time he crawled out from under his newspaper and brushed against the
cage; his new family had arrived and he didn't have to hide anymore.

We learned that Tommy was rescued from a trailer park where he had been
abandoned, we learned that he had a very difficult kittenhood, that he
had been locked away and nearly starved, that without a mother he had
taught himself how to survive. Tommy would carry the scars from that
time the rest of his life and he would become very upset at any closed
doors in the house, except for the exterior doors, he had no desire to
go out there. Tommy also was careful to never miss a meal and it was a
few years before he became comfortable with an empty food bowl. His fear
of starving showed as he grew to be an enormous thirty-four pound tom
cat. Strangely, he was never graceful even as a kitten. I'll never
forget the time he was sitting on the edge of my desk surveying the
household and for no reason slipped and fell in the trash can. His ego
was bruised more than his body. When we found Tommy at the adoption fair
he had no whiskers, he had been attacked by another cat who had chewed
his whiskers off, perhaps this made him clumsy.

My daughters never really took to Tommy and neither did my wife. To
them, he was the grumpy old cat who would took swipes at their legs as
they walked past, never breaking skin but reminding them who had the
claws. Tommy never liked kids and he didn't like girls in particular,
the younger they were the less he liked them and they were rarely
properly deferential toward his status as king of the house; because to
Tommy you see, it was his house, his rules. Eventually he grew to
challenge me, one day as he lay in my bathroom sink I tried to shoo him
out and he took a swipe at me with his claws. As he recovered from his
quick flight across the room he must have decided that second place was
good enough as from that moment on he became my loyal friend. After his
attempted coup d'état failed Tommy followed me from room to room always
flopping down near my feet. Sometimes he would nearly trip me when he
would silently flop down at my heels as I stood at the kitchen counter.
When I left the house Tommy would lay in the window and watch for my
return. He would always be sitting near the door waiting for me as I
entered. At nighttime he would jump on the bed and flop himself down on
my chest nearly cutting off my air while he lay with his nose inches
from mine, purring and blowing his stinky breath in my face. Careful
though, if I dared breath in his face I would get the look that says,
'this is not how things work' and he would get up and lay at my feet.
Tommy was the softest animal I've ever petted and people loved to touch
him. I used to joke that when he died I would make a rug from his pelt
to throw in the floor and it would be like he never left, just cheaper.
As he lay asleep in my arms today I remembered my jest and would have
maybe smiled but his beautiful fur was ruined where the doctors had
shaved his side, his neck and his paw last week in order to save his
life. The dumb things you think of and it made me that much sadder that
he had suffered yet more indignities for so little gain. People comfort
themselves with thoughts that their loved ones go to heaven and they are
up there, happy and looking down watching over us. I so much wish I
could believe something like that it would ease the emptiness in my
heart, it would relieve the anguish each time I look down expecting to
see my friend and he is not there.

Tommy lived the life he wanted to live. Despite a rough start to life
and beating odds that nearly killed him, he lived happily, eating well,
being my happy loyal friend to the end. I didn't judge him and he didn't
judge me, we were just happy being. I hope my friend that you understand
what I did and that a dignified death was the best I could do. Goodbye.
I miss you.

http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/2...ykittengw1.jpg
http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/4...en07001la9.jpg

Tommy
2002 - 5/31/2008

Thank you to the people that offered advice and support.

"Mac Cool" wrote in message
...

http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/2...ykittengw1.jpg
http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/4...en07001la9.jpg

Tommy
2002 - 5/31/2008


He was really beautiful.

Mac Cool wrote:
Goodbye to my Friend

Today my friend went to sleep. He has been having troubles these last
few weeks with his heart and today a clot broke loose and paralyzed his
back legs. Deeply saddened that our fight was over I took him to the pet
hospital where he laid gently in my wife's arms with his head resting on
my lap until he fell asleep. So gentle was his passing that I was the
last to realize he was gone, at last he was out of pain. I still agonize
over the decision. In my heart I know I did everything possible to keep
the cat he was, alive. The last few days he was slipping away, not just
his body but his essence, that part of him that made him my friend.
Putting him to sleep was the humane decision, intellectually I know this
and in my heart I felt that he truly would have agreed if he could have
spoken but I could see in his eyes as I lay petting him this morning,
that he was asking for my help. Help me, take the pain away. So I did
the last thing I could do for you my friend, I took away your pain.

Tommy came into our lives when he was about seven months old. My
daughter and I went to a cat adoption fair at Petsmart. Among all the
animals one stood out, a young male kitten hiding under the newspapers
in his cage as he peeked at the strangers surrounding him. Most people
ignored him, who wants a scaredy cat and when a few did stop to look he
would cringe under his flimsy protection from the world. But something
different happened when my daughter approached the cage, for the first
time he crawled out from under his newspaper and brushed against the
cage; his new family had arrived and he didn't have to hide anymore.

We learned that Tommy was rescued from a trailer park where he had been
abandoned, we learned that he had a very difficult kittenhood, that he
had been locked away and nearly starved, that without a mother he had
taught himself how to survive. Tommy would carry the scars from that
time the rest of his life and he would become very upset at any closed
doors in the house, except for the exterior doors, he had no desire to
go out there. Tommy also was careful to never miss a meal and it was a
few years before he became comfortable with an empty food bowl. His fear
of starving showed as he grew to be an enormous thirty-four pound tom
cat. Strangely, he was never graceful even as a kitten. I'll never
forget the time he was sitting on the edge of my desk surveying the
household and for no reason slipped and fell in the trash can. His ego
was bruised more than his body. When we found Tommy at the adoption fair
he had no whiskers, he had been attacked by another cat who had chewed
his whiskers off, perhaps this made him clumsy.

My daughters never really took to Tommy and neither did my wife. To
them, he was the grumpy old cat who would took swipes at their legs as
they walked past, never breaking skin but reminding them who had the
claws. Tommy never liked kids and he didn't like girls in particular,
the younger they were the less he liked them and they were rarely
properly deferential toward his status as king of the house; because to
Tommy you see, it was his house, his rules. Eventually he grew to
challenge me, one day as he lay in my bathroom sink I tried to shoo him
out and he took a swipe at me with his claws. As he recovered from his
quick flight across the room he must have decided that second place was
good enough as from that moment on he became my loyal friend. After his
attempted coup d’état failed Tommy followed me from room to room always
flopping down near my feet. Sometimes he would nearly trip me when he
would silently flop down at my heels as I stood at the kitchen counter.
When I left the house Tommy would lay in the window and watch for my
return. He would always be sitting near the door waiting for me as I
entered. At nighttime he would jump on the bed and flop himself down on
my chest nearly cutting off my air while he lay with his nose inches
from mine, purring and blowing his stinky breath in my face. Careful
though, if I dared breath in his face I would get the look that says,
'this is not how things work' and he would get up and lay at my feet.
Tommy was the softest animal I've ever petted and people loved to touch
him. I used to joke that when he died I would make a rug from his pelt
to throw in the floor and it would be like he never left, just cheaper.
As he lay asleep in my arms today I remembered my jest and would have
maybe smiled but his beautiful fur was ruined where the doctors had
shaved his side, his neck and his paw last week in order to save his
life. The dumb things you think of and it made me that much sadder that
he had suffered yet more indignities for so little gain. People comfort
themselves with thoughts that their loved ones go to heaven and they are
up there, happy and looking down watching over us. I so much wish I
could believe something like that it would ease the emptiness in my
heart, it would relieve the anguish each time I look down expecting to
see my friend and he is not there.

Tommy lived the life he wanted to live. Despite a rough start to life
and beating odds that nearly killed him, he lived happily, eating well,
being my happy loyal friend to the end. I didn't judge him and he didn't
judge me, we were just happy being. I hope my friend that you understand
what I did and that a dignified death was the best I could do. Goodbye.
I miss you.

http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/2...ykittengw1.jpg
http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/4...en07001la9.jpg

Tommy
2002 - 5/31/2008

Thank you to the people that offered advice and support.



http://www.indigo.org/rainbowbridge_ver2.html

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

I say hello, but sadly good-bye,
as I hold you in my arms.
You, who I have known,
deep within my heart.
You are so real to me.
For moments, yet for all eternity.

Why?

Why
I ask,
must this be?

To endure in pain
is to ask for answers.
Why must this be?

Does God know why?
Will He enlighten me?
Will He strengthen my faith,
my beliefs so I can endure?
Will I ever know the answer?

Why?

--Julie Fritsch

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

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

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

....do animals go to heaven? I do believe that we and our animals will
meet again. If we do not, and where we go is supposed to be heaven, it
will not be heaven to me and it will not be where I wish to go.

--Cleveland Amory

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

Strange that so small mortality should leave
So large an emptiness! for as we grieve
Your little life of few but happy years
Ended for us, one who could understand
Each subtle word, and answer hand with hand
Had hardly taken greater toll of tears.

Yet why should we not mourn for as a friend?
That name was yours; if every man would spend
His life as well, earth were not hard to save.
Grant that God made your heart and brain but small.
What more has an archangel than his all?
And all God gave to you, to us you gave.

--Amelia Josephine Burr

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

Our rooms are very still today,
The loneliness...a void;
That dented pillow mutely mourns
Companionship...destroyed!
That fluffy ball of purring fur--
My comfort--subtle teacher--
Has left a tender tolerance
For every living creature.
My traits and faults were audited
By questioning, loving eyes;
All tests of friendship were fulfilled
By trust that verified.

--Nellie Baldwin Rudser

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

Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened.

--Anatole France

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

We who choose to surround ourselves with lives even more temporary than
our own live within a fragile circle, easily and often breached. Unable
to accept its awful gaps, we still would live no other way. We cherish
memory as the only certain immortality, never fully understanding the
necessary plan.

--Irving Townsend

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

Mankind’s true moral test, its fundamental test (which lies deeply
buried from view), consists of its attitude towards those who are at its
mercy: animals. And in this respect mankind has suffered a fundamental
debacle, a debacle so fundamental that all others stem from it.

--Milan Kundera

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

I believe that the loss of a beloved companion animal is like no other
loss because our relationships with animals are like no other. Our
culture tells us that an animal companion is an engaging toy, and that
our grief over its death is alarming and ill-paced. And our culture is
just flat wrong....Animals are more to us than we know. Their
partnership with us is a holy one that endures across a lifetime and
possibly beyond.

--Susan Chernak McElroy

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

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

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

Comrades of our past were they,
Of that unreturning day.
Changed and aging, they and we
Dwelt, it seemed, in sympathy.
Alway from their presence broke
Somewhat which remembrance woke
Of the loved, the lost, the young--
Yet they died, and died unsung....

Fare thee well, companion dear!
Fare for ever well, nor fear,
Tiny though thou art, to stray
Down the uncompanion'd way!
We without thee, little friend,
Many years have not to spend;
What are left, will hardly be
Better than we spent with thee.

--Matthew Arnold

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

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.

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

Since you have gone the sun has left the sky,
No breezes blow,
No birds sing
To ease the aching vacuum in my heart.
I shall not forget your gentle ways;
No judgements made,
No difficult demands,
No needs save one,
To share your life with mine.
Now kind, uncomprehending people say,
"Cheer up, you'll love another pet some day."

--Hilda Lunn

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

When humans die, they make a will
To leave their homes, and all they
Have to those they love.
I too would make a will, if I could write.

To some poor, wistful, lonely stray
I'd leave my happy home,
My dish, my cozy bed, my cushioned chair, my toy,
The well-loved lap,
The gently stroking hand,
The loving voice,
The place I made in someone's heart,
The love, that at the last
Could help me to a peaceful, painless end
Held in loving arms.

If I should die,
Oh! Do not say:
"No more a pet I'll have
To grieve me by its loss."
Seek out some lonely, unloved cat
And give my place to him.
This is my legacy,
The love I leave behind,
'Tis all I have to give.

--Margaret Trowton

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

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

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

Dancing ribbons pushed by time
Float through an old kitten's dreams.
He chases them into eternity,
And catches them,
As they change into angels' wings.

--Daryl Douglas Foyer

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

Farewell, my friends, yet not farewell,
Where I go you too shall dwell.
I am gone before your face,
A moment's time, a little space.
When you come where I have stepped,
You will wonder why you wept.

--Edwin Arnold

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

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

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

Aionía aftoú e mnéme--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

On May 31, 3:45*pm, Mac Cool wrote:
Goodbye to my Friend

Today my friend went to sleep.

All I can say is you gave him such a good life and I am sure he sends
his thanks from the Bridge

Lesley

Slave of the Fabulous Furballs

I am so sorry to hear about Tommy. I was so hoping he would improve. It is
never easy to say goodbye. I share your tears.

Sue

"Mac Cool" wrote in message
...
Goodbye to my Friend

Today my friend went to sleep. He has been having troubles these last
few weeks with his heart and today a clot broke loose and paralyzed his
back legs. Deeply saddened that our fight was over I took him to the pet
hospital where he laid gently in my wife's arms with his head resting on
my lap until he fell asleep. So gentle was his passing that I was the
last to realize he was gone, at last he was out of pain. I still agonize
over the decision. In my heart I know I did everything possible to keep
the cat he was, alive. The last few days he was slipping away, not just
his body but his essence, that part of him that made him my friend.
Putting him to sleep was the humane decision, intellectually I know this
and in my heart I felt that he truly would have agreed if he could have
spoken but I could see in his eyes as I lay petting him this morning,
that he was asking for my help. Help me, take the pain away. So I did
the last thing I could do for you my friend, I took away your pain.

Tommy came into our lives when he was about seven months old. My
daughter and I went to a cat adoption fair at Petsmart. Among all the
animals one stood out, a young male kitten hiding under the newspapers
in his cage as he peeked at the strangers surrounding him. Most people
ignored him, who wants a scaredy cat and when a few did stop to look he
would cringe under his flimsy protection from the world. But something
different happened when my daughter approached the cage, for the first
time he crawled out from under his newspaper and brushed against the
cage; his new family had arrived and he didn't have to hide anymore.

We learned that Tommy was rescued from a trailer park where he had been
abandoned, we learned that he had a very difficult kittenhood, that he
had been locked away and nearly starved, that without a mother he had
taught himself how to survive. Tommy would carry the scars from that
time the rest of his life and he would become very upset at any closed
doors in the house, except for the exterior doors, he had no desire to
go out there. Tommy also was careful to never miss a meal and it was a
few years before he became comfortable with an empty food bowl. His fear
of starving showed as he grew to be an enormous thirty-four pound tom
cat. Strangely, he was never graceful even as a kitten. I'll never
forget the time he was sitting on the edge of my desk surveying the
household and for no reason slipped and fell in the trash can. His ego
was bruised more than his body. When we found Tommy at the adoption fair
he had no whiskers, he had been attacked by another cat who had chewed
his whiskers off, perhaps this made him clumsy.

My daughters never really took to Tommy and neither did my wife. To
them, he was the grumpy old cat who would took swipes at their legs as
they walked past, never breaking skin but reminding them who had the
claws. Tommy never liked kids and he didn't like girls in particular,
the younger they were the less he liked them and they were rarely
properly deferential toward his status as king of the house; because to
Tommy you see, it was his house, his rules. Eventually he grew to
challenge me, one day as he lay in my bathroom sink I tried to shoo him
out and he took a swipe at me with his claws. As he recovered from his
quick flight across the room he must have decided that second place was
good enough as from that moment on he became my loyal friend. After his
attempted coup d'état failed Tommy followed me from room to room always
flopping down near my feet. Sometimes he would nearly trip me when he
would silently flop down at my heels as I stood at the kitchen counter.
When I left the house Tommy would lay in the window and watch for my
return. He would always be sitting near the door waiting for me as I
entered. At nighttime he would jump on the bed and flop himself down on
my chest nearly cutting off my air while he lay with his nose inches
from mine, purring and blowing his stinky breath in my face. Careful
though, if I dared breath in his face I would get the look that says,
'this is not how things work' and he would get up and lay at my feet.
Tommy was the softest animal I've ever petted and people loved to touch
him. I used to joke that when he died I would make a rug from his pelt
to throw in the floor and it would be like he never left, just cheaper.
As he lay asleep in my arms today I remembered my jest and would have
maybe smiled but his beautiful fur was ruined where the doctors had
shaved his side, his neck and his paw last week in order to save his
life. The dumb things you think of and it made me that much sadder that
he had suffered yet more indignities for so little gain. People comfort
themselves with thoughts that their loved ones go to heaven and they are
up there, happy and looking down watching over us. I so much wish I
could believe something like that it would ease the emptiness in my
heart, it would relieve the anguish each time I look down expecting to
see my friend and he is not there.

Tommy lived the life he wanted to live. Despite a rough start to life
and beating odds that nearly killed him, he lived happily, eating well,
being my happy loyal friend to the end. I didn't judge him and he didn't
judge me, we were just happy being. I hope my friend that you understand
what I did and that a dignified death was the best I could do. Goodbye.
I miss you.

http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/2...ykittengw1.jpg
http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/4...en07001la9.jpg

Tommy
2002 - 5/31/2008

Thank you to the people that offered advice and support.

On May 31, 6:45 pm, Mac Cool wrote:
Goodbye to my Friend

You were good to Tommy all his life and, in the end, you took away his
pain and fear the only way you could. Somewhere, on his new
adventures, he is hoping to see you again. But he can wait until it's
time. He's fine now.



–
Will in New Haven
“Did an angel whisper in your ear
And hold you close and take away your fear
In those long last moments.”
Lucinda Williams - “Lake Charles

"Mac Cool" wrote in message
...
Goodbye to my Friend

Today my friend went to sleep. He has been having troubles these last
few weeks with his heart and today a clot broke loose and paralyzed his
back legs. Deeply saddened that our fight was over I took him to the pet
hospital where he laid gently in my wife's arms with his head resting on
my lap until he fell asleep. So gentle was his passing that I was the
last to realize he was gone, at last he was out of pain. I still agonize
over the decision. In my heart I know I did everything possible to keep
the cat he was, alive. The last few days he was slipping away, not just
his body but his essence, that part of him that made him my friend.
Putting him to sleep was the humane decision, intellectually I know this
and in my heart I felt that he truly would have agreed if he could have
spoken but I could see in his eyes as I lay petting him this morning,
that he was asking for my help. Help me, take the pain away. So I did
the last thing I could do for you my friend, I took away your pain.

Tommy came into our lives when he was about seven months old. My
daughter and I went to a cat adoption fair at Petsmart. Among all the
animals one stood out, a young male kitten hiding under the newspapers
in his cage as he peeked at the strangers surrounding him. Most people
ignored him, who wants a scaredy cat and when a few did stop to look he
would cringe under his flimsy protection from the world. But something
different happened when my daughter approached the cage, for the first
time he crawled out from under his newspaper and brushed against the
cage; his new family had arrived and he didn't have to hide anymore.

We learned that Tommy was rescued from a trailer park where he had been
abandoned, we learned that he had a very difficult kittenhood, that he
had been locked away and nearly starved, that without a mother he had
taught himself how to survive. Tommy would carry the scars from that
time the rest of his life and he would become very upset at any closed
doors in the house, except for the exterior doors, he had no desire to
go out there. Tommy also was careful to never miss a meal and it was a
few years before he became comfortable with an empty food bowl. His fear
of starving showed as he grew to be an enormous thirty-four pound tom
cat. Strangely, he was never graceful even as a kitten. I'll never
forget the time he was sitting on the edge of my desk surveying the
household and for no reason slipped and fell in the trash can. His ego
was bruised more than his body. When we found Tommy at the adoption fair
he had no whiskers, he had been attacked by another cat who had chewed
his whiskers off, perhaps this made him clumsy.

My daughters never really took to Tommy and neither did my wife. To
them, he was the grumpy old cat who would took swipes at their legs as
they walked past, never breaking skin but reminding them who had the
claws. Tommy never liked kids and he didn't like girls in particular,
the younger they were the less he liked them and they were rarely
properly deferential toward his status as king of the house; because to
Tommy you see, it was his house, his rules. Eventually he grew to
challenge me, one day as he lay in my bathroom sink I tried to shoo him
out and he took a swipe at me with his claws. As he recovered from his
quick flight across the room he must have decided that second place was
good enough as from that moment on he became my loyal friend. After his
attempted coup d'état failed Tommy followed me from room to room always
flopping down near my feet. Sometimes he would nearly trip me when he
would silently flop down at my heels as I stood at the kitchen counter.
When I left the house Tommy would lay in the window and watch for my
return. He would always be sitting near the door waiting for me as I
entered. At nighttime he would jump on the bed and flop himself down on
my chest nearly cutting off my air while he lay with his nose inches
from mine, purring and blowing his stinky breath in my face. Careful
though, if I dared breath in his face I would get the look that says,
'this is not how things work' and he would get up and lay at my feet.
Tommy was the softest animal I've ever petted and people loved to touch
him. I used to joke that when he died I would make a rug from his pelt
to throw in the floor and it would be like he never left, just cheaper.
As he lay asleep in my arms today I remembered my jest and would have
maybe smiled but his beautiful fur was ruined where the doctors had
shaved his side, his neck and his paw last week in order to save his
life. The dumb things you think of and it made me that much sadder that
he had suffered yet more indignities for so little gain. People comfort
themselves with thoughts that their loved ones go to heaven and they are
up there, happy and looking down watching over us. I so much wish I
could believe something like that it would ease the emptiness in my
heart, it would relieve the anguish each time I look down expecting to
see my friend and he is not there.

Tommy lived the life he wanted to live. Despite a rough start to life
and beating odds that nearly killed him, he lived happily, eating well,
being my happy loyal friend to the end. I didn't judge him and he didn't
judge me, we were just happy being. I hope my friend that you understand
what I did and that a dignified death was the best I could do. Goodbye.
I miss you.

http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/2...ykittengw1.jpg
http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/4...en07001la9.jpg

Tommy
2002 - 5/31/2008

Thank you to the people that offered advice and support.



How beautiful he was, and how lucky to find someone who "got" him.


--
Theresa, Stinky and Dante
drtmuirATearthlink.net

Stinky Pictures: http://community.webshots.com/album/125591586JWEFwh

"Mac Cool" wrote in message
...
Goodbye to my Friend

:-(