Skip to main content

Before I Let it Go

I have been away for a week giving myself time to clear my head.  Mike, the cat, passed away on January 25 after being with us for nearly 17 years.   He lived in two of our homes and spent 24 hours per day inside.  All of this is to say, Mike the cat, was quite a part of our lives.

He was featured in this blog several times (I found at least nine posts with photos).  Just place ¨Mike¨ in the search engine to see those posts.  He is missed and before I let the pain go I wanted to write about what I learned from Mike, the cat.

  1. Be proud of what you are.  Mike carried himself with elegance.  His tail was always high and he literally strutted.  His jumps both up and down were always graceful.  This cat had no self-image problems.
  2. Let out your true you.  Mike truly liked people and he was happy to let everyone and anyone know it.  People knew he had quite a personality because he shared his love.  And if you pet him, he was immediately your friend.
  3. Let others know what you want.  If you knew Mike you know he had very few wants, but he would go for those wants.  If it was attention, he would hop in your lap, knocking what you had in your hands out so those hands were free to pet him.  If he was hungry, he´d be in your face until his bowl was full.  But once he had what he wanted, he let it go and forgot the injustice.
  4. Be fastidious.  Mike kept himself clean, well groomed and carried himself with confidence.  It was as if he knew he was a purebred Tonkinese cat and was proud of it.  In the end he so appreciated being cleaned and brushed by me.  He wanted his standards upheld.
  5. Focus on the best of a person.  Mike knew how to deal with both Paul and me, and we are quite different.  He knew who to talk to and for how long.  He knew who would brush him and who would gently stroke him for hours.  Mike was good at typing people to get their best.
  6. Enjoy to the fullest what you receive.  Mike would lean into your hand as you pet him and give you full eye contact.  He so took in the time you spent with him, he relished each touch, each snuggle.  And he enjoyed it every time.  Mike did live in the moment.
  7. Forgive quickly.  There were times when Mike would become upset with me because I was away too long, or I put him in a baby cocoon, or made him wear a knitted mini-cake has a hat, but he forgave me quickly.  He was not one to hold a grudge.
  8. Be memorable.  Mike did all the above and that made him a cat you couldn´t forget.  Even people who weren´t all that fond of cats, in general, enjoyed Mike, in particular.  If you met him you too would remember him.  
My list was longer, but Mike wouldn´t want me to over-share.  I think I will be able to let the pain go now and move on.   Mike, oh boy, you were one of a kind.  RIP.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Anatomy of a Sock

I've been knitting socks for a relatively short time.  One of the disconcerting things for me as I started following patterns for socks is the pattern designer assumes the knitter (in this case that would be me) knows all the parts of a sock.  So I thought I'd devote a post to improve my own knowledge about the anatomy of a sock and maybe some of you will learn something about the humble yet necessary sock as well. Here's the names of the parts of the foot as I know them. #49 ankle, #50 heel, #51, instep, #52 ball, #53 big toe, #54 toe, #55 little toe, #56 toenail. There are some parts more important for this discussion; first the heel of a foot is generally used to refer to the entire C-shape from the ankle to the instep.  Speaking of the instep, it refers to that curve near the bottom of the foot.  And what seems to be missing in the design above is the sole which generally refers to the bottom of the foot in total or plantar aspect in more technical terms...
2 comments
Read more

Ode to the Cat

It has been six months since Mike, the cat's, passing.  I think of him every day and miss him especially when Paul is away.  Mike was a being in the house with me and we were close.  Grieving his death has been muddled with my Dad's passing and sometimes I feel guilty about that happening.  As time passes the ache becomes less hurtful for both and I am starting to get mostly good memories in its place. Recently I helped celebrate Pablo Neruda's birthday with Jami, my poet and overall very creative friend.  Guests were asked to select one poem written by Neruda to read to the small group who gathered for the celebration.  I picked this one: Ode To The Cat -- Pablo Neruda There was something wrong with the animals: their tails were too long, and they had unfortunate heads. Then they started coming together, little by little fitting together to make a landscape, developing birthmarks, grace, flight. But the cat, only the cat turned ou...
1 comment
Read more

Knitting-Related Guinness World Records

I had to share some of the Guinness World Records connected with knitting.  It is amazing to me the type of skill, stamina and unique characteristics these record holders have in common. How about trying to knit with these SPNs?? Ingrid Wagner and her large needles and knitted swatch The largest knitting needles measured 3.5 m (11 ft 5.8 in) long and had a diameter of 8 cm (3.15 in). Ingrid Wagner, a rug and art creation artist, from the UK used the needles to knit a tension square of ten stitches by ten rows at the Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, on March, 10 2008.  (And I complained about getting certain SPNs stuck in my clothes.)  See how this swatch was done with merely 5 people managing the needles.  And what about the yarn?  It is truly ex-bulky.  It looks like they're knitting in a warehouse, but with a wingspan of almost 24 feet or 7 m, you'd need all that space.  Or h...
1 comment
Read more