I just found out from a friend that his cat had died. So, today I’m thinking a lot about our cat Socrates.
He remains The Best Cat in the World to me. When Demetrius and I would sit together on the couch watching television, Socrates habitually positioned himself so that he was on both of our laps. We figured he was making a point of not playing favorites.
When our alarm clock would go off in the morning, he would run out into the hallway–knowing that we would be passing that way soon–and roll onto his back, presenting his tummy to be rubbed. And that boy enjoyed a vigorous tummy rubbing. Only cat we’ve had like that. The cats who have shared our home since then have been affectionate enough, but those other cat tummies have been strictly off limits.
We don’t have any digital pictures of Socrates, or even any regular pictures of him in his signature “present tummy” pose. Nor could I find a picture of any black cat doing “the pose”, so this will have to do…
Longer version of this diary here.
In memory of two old friends we miss terribly.
Maggie
Kiki
This is certainly a day to contemplate mortality, common to all living things & the blessings of love we give one another in our short time on earth.
I believe we all return, however, to the greater reality we have in common, where this love is what we are. I hold no higher hope for any of us, regardless of our shape or color.
I’ve mourned far too many of my loved ones, human & animal. However, there’s always a completion to the mourning process — another blessing allowed the living.
I lost my very dear friend earlier this year, Aggie (Agate). I rescued her from a malicious boy who had already killed his last kitten. She was left on a second story porch over memorial day and she couldn’t have been more than 5 or 6 weeks old. She fell off the porch and I took her into my life. She was a tiny, but beautiful fluff-ball and covered in fleas and mites. That was 17 years ago.
At the time, my ex and I had just fallen in love and we both fell in love with Aggie, but she was always my cat.
She had two litters before we were able to get her fixed and we kept two kittens from the first litter (Garnet and Mioche). Sadly we lost both of those cats, Garnet to a car, and Mioche to some unidentified neurological disease.
They were all great cats and brought me much joy and compassion. I miss them dearly, but I miss Aggie most of all.
Now, I filed for divorce, and am moving to a new place, and will be looking for another cat for my daughter and I. I have no doubt that this cat will also share many new memories in our next chapter of life.