If you’ve been reading this blog for some time you may remember the year of cat rainbow heaven (2021). In July of that year, my daughter’s cat Isabella Rose passed. We had a close relationship because we used to babysit her at our house a lot. Perry loved to watch over her, so we called him the babysitter. When Izzie suffered a sudden and never diagnosed illness and was failing, my daughter asked me to come to the emergency vet so I could say goodbye. When I got there, the on-call vet pressured us to let him euthanize her before she coded. They never told us what was wrong. We all–but especially my daughter–still miss her a lot.
A month later we lost our sweet sweet boy Felix.
A month after that my heart completely broke with the loss of the amazing love (and nurse to all who are sick–human, cat, dog), Pear Blossom.
Pear Blossom
What a difficult year. But what followed was a worse year. Heart-rending family troubles, and the loss of Tiger Queen Princess Mimi. I wrote a hybrid poem/story/journal that is mostly nonfiction (some time elements were shifted, etc.). You could call it hybrid nonfiction/fiction. Founder and Editor of the new journal Feed the Holy, Barbara Harris Leonhard has published this piece today. I hope you cry a little, but then can smile.
https://feedthehol.blogspot.com/2025/01/journal-from-year-after-several-of-my.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawH19mdleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHS2KrLj8JUWfD6FmONxP1g60hnuILFReTWuxPMg9acU9U853ncR4UKxfuQ_aem_m7QeVSF3ab1C2nV4sZbXcw
Tiger on the piano
If you’re still reading you can also find three of my collages at the journal Thimble. Yay!!! You can find them all at this link. Let me know which one you like best if you have time to check them out!
So poignant.
Thank you, Joy. Hard to get over.
So much heartbreak. I still ache from losing Smokey in 2022—just that one (incredibly sweet, beautiful, wonderful) cat. Losing as many as you did in that short period would have broken me.
Smokey was so wonderful and blessed your life. Losing Pear after the other two was crippling to me. She was my best sweet pea much like Perry is tho our relationships were different. Pear was mature and more like a mom to me. Perry is my baby and my little man.
((( <3 )))
Thank you, Annette. I really hope you’re feeling better.
Aw, thank you… I am blessed!
I am glad to hear that, Annette!
Sending you hugs! I still miss my Bella dog. I still dream about horses, and it is a long time ago that I rode my horse in high school!!! God is good. I now have my Daisy dog, and she is not Bella, but I do love her. I am so sorry about your losses, and I think writing about them helps. Awesome mosaics. I read your poem about the needle…very good!
I will always miss Higgins, Maggie, Cujo, Frankie and Stella. They still live in my heart.
Oh, I know you will! They will always be there.
Losing so many kitties—in such a short time. So sorry for your loss.
Such a sad time. You are blessed to have the ability to spin straw into gold. I loved the story and the collages.
Thank you so much, Wilma! Straw into gold: I have a story to sell you in this vein (yes, a pun).
Pam thank you so very much.
What a sad time you’ve had. I suppose it’s “better to have loved and lost…,” but sometimes it’s so hard that I wonder if it’s worth the pain … oh, of course it is! But still…. It hurts.
Yes yes yes. I completely agree. I feel sorry for people who can’t or don’t want to have loving fur babies.
Those were sad times. You are blessed with being able to spin straw into gold. I loved the story and the collages.
Oh, Luanne, there is so much pain and loss in that poem. My heart goes out to you. I like all three of the Thimble collages, but I’d have to say my favorite for the social statement it makes is Trademark, and my favorite for personal story it tells is On the Block.
Oh, Luanne. I remember those years, the heartache as I read your posts, grateful you would share your loss(es) with all of us, but still wishing it wasn’t so. Often when Greg and I are sitting on our smaller sofa (the one we sit on when we are having a glass or two of wine and talking about current events, not the one where we sit when we want to watch TV), we reminisce about Junior and Maxine, our most recent losses, and how they would hog our laps, especially in winter. Anyway, remembering your kitties makes me remember mine, but the point is your nonfiction/fiction piece is so evocative of loss and of how we still manage our days—more or less. As for your collages, you go, Girl! How many collages have been published? It’s wonderful to see them going out into the world. Of those three, I lean toward Trademark, if only because I used to have a shoe fetish and once (when I was a teenager) imagined myself designing clothes while hoping that, like Cinderella, my Prince would come and carry me away. ❤️
Such a sad period
So sad, they all looked like angels. Which, I’m sure they were. I liked On the Block best. God bless your broken heart.
I loved the pictures – and remembered them along with you.
For some inexplicable reason, when one member of our family leaves us, a bell rings to encourage others to follow.
We never forget them.
I feel for you. I still miss my little dog lost four years ago. Now I have two stray feral cats that I feed. They won’t let me approach them, but I love looking at them through the sliding glass door as they feed, and worry about them when they go missing for a few days. But i know there are others in the community that feed them as well.
It is hard to have ferals in your heart. Thank you for caring for them!
It’s so hard to have a house that is emptied of loved companions. We had 5 cats and the house was unbearable without them, which is when we decided eventually to get a dog. Your journal entries are sad, moving and lyrical. I think I like Tinctures and Tonics best 🙂
Thank you so much, Andrea. I understand how empty your house felt. It sounds just awful, and I’m so glad you found fur love again! I hope all is well with you and yours!
I feel your losses, Luannne. My heart goes out to you. Our Wynken lost her battle with nasal lymphoma on February 18th.
I loved your journal and have bookmarked thimblemag.com/author/lcastle for later reading.