Ready?
Now-ish: the thing that prompted this post was a bittersweet tweet by Seattle trumpeter / blogger Jason Parker. My condolences, Jason, and RIP, Izzy.
Last year-ish: TC, adopted by Tany Ling. If I remember correctly, "TC" stands for "Trash Can." Got to know this sweetheart when I stayed at Tany's during the IJG's April 2009 tour.
A while ago-ish: Owen, the first cat my wife and I owned. He died unexpectedly, in the middle of the night, before my disbelieving eyes, of an enlarged heart. (Does that mean he loved too much?)
You may (or may not) be familiar with the tune "Little Owen," from the IJG album The Star Chamber. It's a song about that damned cat, if you must know. (Notice how it doesn't exactly end; rather, it just stops.)
Little Owen by uglyrug
And now there's Sadie, an elderly girl we adopted a month or two ago, whose sudden not-eating drama my Facebook friends have already been subjected to (sorry to lay that on ya, Facebook friends). She may or may not be long for this world (we're getting a second opinion on Wednesday).
It's kind of ridiculous, isn't it? All of the crazy, fucked-up shit going on in the world -- enough grief to fill a billion lifetimes -- and still I feel compelled to make room for sadness over the demise of these silly, furry creatures.
7 comments:
Hi there. I'm Mrs. One Working Musician. Jason forwarded this post to me. Thank you for your support the past week and for including Izzy on your blog.
They may be small, but kitties have a way of digging deep into our hearts. We are thinking good thoughts for Sadie and wish her a quick recovery. Give her some extra snuggles in Izzy's honor.
Not ridiculous. Kind of profound, actually.
As Darrah and I were sitting at Golden Gardens the other day having a little memorial for Izzy, she said to me that this experience has made her feel more compassion. Now when she hears that 10 people died in a blast in Iraq or thousands in a earthquake in China she is acutely aware of the people that are left behind to grieve. And I've feel a real sense of patience and a less judgmental attitude toward those around me. Who knows what the guy who cut me off on the road or said something that gets me ruffled might be going through?
And in the "saps who write songs about their dead cats" category, here's a tune I wrote after my kitty Winnie passed away a few years ago:
http://music.oneworkingmusician.com/track/fare-thee-well
And if you care to read Darrah's thoughts about Izzy, you can find them here:
http://www.darrahparker.com/blog/impermanence.html
Thanks for mentioning Izzy and for this beautiful post.
That's funny. I thought when you said cats you meant "jazz cats" and not our beloved fur balls. Thanks for remembering TC. So sweet to see her picture here. I guess it takes a cat owner to know how utterly crappy it is to have to say goodbye.
Sadie is so cute. I want to play with her. Hope she gets to enjoy more time with you.
That Owen had some amazing ears!
Hey, I wrote a song inspired by my PARAKEET. After she died I was happy I'd done so, as it gave me an excuse to keep saying her name.
Nice tune, Jason.
And thanks, everyone, for commenting. I do think animals provide a great opportunity to fine-tune our capacity for compassion... as you say, Darrah, it really doesn't matter that they are small.
I also think that sometimes they are wiser than we are when it comes to knowing when they are ready to go, and being okay with that.
Got the second opinion on Sadie today, and it was not good. It seems she is much older than we were led to believe, and that she has more or less given up. So now it's a waiting game.
Ah, the circle of life!
Gah. It may be her time and all, but that's still really hard. Sorry.
Sorry to hear about Sadie. I guess all you can do is make sure that she's loved in whatever time she has left. I know you will.
Post a Comment