Sharky

Earlier this week, with no fanfare, a heart broke.

You see my oldest and dearest friend cat, Sharky lost his battle with cancer. Sharky was her special cat. You know what I mean. We always love each of our cats, but invariably there is one that tugs at our heart strings just a little stronger. Sharky was just that cat for Nancy. She came upon him many many years ago where he was on his last reprieve. There was something magical that happened when she laid her eyes upon him. Although at that moment she didn't think that her husband wanted her to have him. So she walked away tears in her eyes because she didn't want to leave him. Well, as husbands go, he saw how upset she was, and how much it meant to her, so he relented and she got the cat. He was fully grown then of an unknown age. So he really was a senior cat.

Although she tried everything possible to save him, when the diagnosis was made, it was a devasting discovery. There was so little time left between two old and very dear friends. But when the final moment came, he was cradled in the arms of the person who had loved him the most, and it was fitting that he knew as he passed from this world to the next that the arms of love held him one last time.

I grieve for you Nancy, as I know, this was one of the hardest things you have ever had to endure. Because many people would say; it was only a cat. But, no he wasn't simply a cat. He was the sweetness and the light. He was your joy and comfort. He was simply a complete world to you.

I know how strongly you will miss him, but the only reassurance I can offer is that he is now free from his earthly suffering and he is whole and running and playing, chasing birds from cloud to cloud. He is watching over you and sending you his special love. But, I believe that he will be waiting for you when your day comes and he will welcome you with an outstretch paw and a loud thunderous purr to see you again.