Tabitha Grace

Last Fall my darling cat Tabitha became very old almost overnight. Her narrow shoulders sloped downward the way an old person’s would. When she sat down with me on the porch, where we could feel the sea breezes, she would circle around her soft bed and tuck her legs gently under her with perfect delicacy. I could almost feel the arthritic pain. I winced knowing that, I too, would someday be her age and, having been a runner for most of my life,  would also feel this pain. She moved so slowly, but with such a strong spirit.

On April 28, she left this earth. I was with her at the time and read to her from the Book of Common Prayer: “This we know: every living thing is yours and returns to you. As we ponder this mystery we give you thanks for the life of Tabitha Grace and we now commit her into your loving hands.

It is hard to accept this loss, but I know that her life was getting to be difficult. I am very grateful for her love, beauty and spirituality. She taught me patience as  she faced her difficulties in old age — especially her loss of sight. Recently I lost my glasses and I realized on a small scale what it would be like if my sight was impaired even for an evening.  An acute fear crept over me as I retraced my steps until I found them.  I felt that wonderful joy of finding something lost.  That is the joy I had when  I found Tabitha — her lovely photograph showing through the glass at the Greenwich Village Animal Hospital in New York City. I knew at first sight she was mine and I was hers.