With just a little over 2 weeks to go until Daylight Savings Time kicks in and everyone goes “spring fever crazy”, I’m still sitting here amazed at how we got to this stage. I feel pretty hard done by for not having had a real winter this year. Christmas breezed by with just a couple of cold snaps, and we only had 2 small snowfalls. Lately the temperature has been above normal for this time of year and, quite frankly, I just don’t know how to dress for each day.
Our family in northern Wisconsin are dealing with a giant snowstorm that dumped well over a foot of snow on them, with below zero temperatures. This is when I get impressed by just how big a country this is. All 4 seasons in one country on the same day, depending on where you live. Here in St. Louis, we can have all 4 seasons in one day! Heck, even in one hour!
All of my bulbs are coming out and yesterday, when out on my walk, I saw a couple of daffodils in full bloom! It’s February! Go back underground, bulbs, it’s too early and you’ll freeze to death!
It’s been a rough start to 2023 for us. On January 19th we lost Sylvester to stage 3 kidney disease, although he had probably progressed to stage 4 by then. In an effort not to rehash the tragedy and save me some tears, I can only say that he was so greatly loved, and a huge part of our lives has vanished. He was our social butterfly; loved people, loved food, loved life and loved us. We will never have another cat like him. I held him in my arms as he took his last breath. No one stole stuff like he did and hid it in strange places. No one found the oddest items and played hard with it until it either broke or vanished, like he did. There is a gigantic hole in our lives right now, but Aggie and Bear are making it bearable for us. They are hurting too, so we are all good company for each other.
We were (and still are) overwhelmed by the love and support from our friends. I can’t thank the St. Louis Cat Clinic enough for their support, compassion and kindness. I had taken Sylvester to an emergency hospital for emergency treatment and that’s where we had to make the dreadful decision. The Cat Clinic knew about it before I got home and had left voicemail messages of condolence for me. When I called back, they were all crying. My vet was crying when she assured me that I’d done absolutely everything possible to keep Sylvester happy and as healthy as possible. I went there the next day to drop off and donate excess food and medicines and every single one of the staff hugged me and cried with me and shared many stories about Sylvester. I could tell that they’ve all been through this before and they just held me and let me sob. They also gave me a card that everyone had not only signed but written lovely messages about Sylvester. I will cherish this. Neighbours and friends have been so kind too, letting me blab on about Sylvester. I’ve set up a “wall of cats” opposite our front door so that Sylvester still greets us when we get home. A neighbor sent us a lovely tactile 3-D print of Sylvester with his name in Braille and a colour picture of him (which is now on the wall of cats). My phone has literally thousands of photos of all our cats, and I almost wish I could make wallpaper out of all of them.
It’s been 5 weeks since that horrible day and we are now in a better place and able to laugh about his antics and fun things. We still miss him incredibly, but the raw pain is lessening. No, he was not “only a cat”. He was our little ray of sunshine. He was 13 years and 9 months old.
Aggie and Bear are coping well without him. Aggie more than Bear. Bear seems to have taken on some of Sylvester’s nuances, and Aggie is very nonchalant about it. They are both 15 years old with their own issues but doing pretty well and giving us lots of love.
February galloped by with Greg and I celebrating that I’ve been in the USA for 19 years. I arrived on Valentine’s Day 2004. Greg sent me a beautiful bouquet of star fighter lilies. I was shocked as he never does that, and I even asked the delivery man if he had the right address! Then Greg celebrated his 61st birthday. We celebrated by going to a Board meeting, but then to Rockwell Beer Company with friends and of course, home to the giant German Chocolate Cake that I make for him every year.
Going forward, we have some house changes and updates to do, and I’m planning on holding a neighbourhood flea market – can’t wait to rid the house of stuff I’ve been hoarding for 3 years for it! For now, we’re in Lent and even though I’m not Catholic, I still believe that giving something up for a period of time is good for the body and soul. This year I’m giving up chocolate! Pray for me! Greg gave up alcohol! Pray for him! We are 3 days into it and already I’m opening random cabinets and staring at them.
One day melts into another, and for now, I’ll layer up before going out, and be down to a t-shirt when I get home, and then layer up again until the weather can make up its mind what it’s doing. It makes for an interesting laundry day.
