Four Part Harmony

I wanted to take a minute to post a bit of sad news. Floyd, our beloved cat and companion of 15 years, died last week. Floydie was a great cat. Nicki got her as a kitten a year or so before I met her. She moved all over Portland with us, living with lots of other cats and dogs and people along the way. She even lived with me in Idaho for a summer. I drove her out there in my little Subaru, with her litter box behind the drivers seat and her crawling under the pedals and on my lap as I drove.

As you all mostly know, Floydie has been pretty sick these past couple of years, slowly and consistently losing weight and getting less and less active. This past week, though, it became clear that she was nearing the end, and it was pretty tough for everyone. Our biggest concern was that we didn’t want her to be in pain. We took her to the vet and ran some blood work and it was clear that there was very little that could be done for her but manage her pain. The vets were very nice, not trying to force us into long shot treatments or rush us to euthanize. They gave her a few days worth of pain medication and we took her home. We spent the next two days giving her as much attention as she seemed to be able to handle. She seemed to enjoy the time as well, but it was also clear that she was ready to go. In the end she found a quiet place to lay down and drifted off peacefully. It was all we could have asked for for her.

It was a sunny winter day, a treasured rarity, and the type of day that would have been her absolute favorite. She was always fond of a nice sunbeam. I carried her out into the sun and set to work making a grave for her at the corner of our garage. We buried her with her food and water bowls. In her last years, her favorite thing in life had become fresh, cold water. She meowed for it two or three times a day, and even if her water dish was still full we would empty it and pour in fresh cold water. It was a small luxury but the only one she requested.

The kids had been napping and when they woke up we talked a little bit with Anna about Floydie dying. This is our second pet to die in a matter of a month. It is a really hard thing to explain. We made some tea and asked if she wanted to go out and see where she was buried. It was mid-afternoon but the sun was still shining. We lit a candle and set some rocks around where she was buried. We talked about that Floydie’s body had died, but that her spirit would always be with us. Looking around the yard we could see the row after row of garlic we had planted in the fall just starting to sprout, life springing forth from the earth, and we felt blessed.