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RIP Dapper Dan
I got home the other day from grocery shopping — you know the kind we are used to doing now, mask on and six feet apart. Things went well until I got a call from my neighbor Amanda. “I’ve got very bad news,” she said. My heart froze. I said, “Nothing has happened to Dapper Dan, I hope?” But our beloved neighborhood cat that I gave lodging to had been hit by a car. He was gone. Shock to the psyche: Whatever adrenaline courses through ones’s life system, for me, it was shock rather than grief. I couldn’t fully imagine why and how it had happened. For me, he continued…
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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…
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Tabitha Grace
My darling cat Tabitha has become very old almost overnight. Her narrow shoulders slope downward the way an old man or woman’s shoulders would. When she sits down with me on the porch of my apartment where we feel the sea breezes, she circles around her soft bed and tucks her legs gently down under her with perfect delicacy. I can almost feel the arthritic pain. I wince knowing that, I too, will be her age someday and having been a runner for most of my life, I will feel this pain. She moves so slowly, but with intention. Her spirit is strong. When I leave her to go…
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My Wife’s Lovers
At the bottom of this blog is a painting Sotheby’s sold for $826,000. That’s a handsome sum for a cat painting. It was painted in 1891 and the title is “My Wife’s Lovers.” The subtitle was “all cats must go.” I know some of you on this blog are not cat lovers, so perhaps that is your sentiment. However, I am smitten by cats. I have been caring for some outdoor cats for over 1 & 1/2 years. I found them when they were kittens near Fort Greene. Some now have homes and all remain a bit wild. Little Bea, or Beatrice, is the fierce one. Her name is the…
