Goodbye My Friend

I came home from my last trip out on the ocean for work two days ago and walked in the door to find one of my cats greeting me as always at the front door.  I sat my bags down and kissed Gareth who sat on the couch reading some office work.  I went to check on my little girl cat who was missing and found her sleeping under the sink in the kitchen.  This is a spot where she normally slept curled up in a big round bucket that was supposed to be used for cleaning, when I bought it, but she had other ideas for it and turned into a bed.   She lifted her head when she saw me and left out a soft meow as I patted her on the head and said hello.  I just figured she was tired or comfortable and would come see me later that evening when she was ready to stretch her legs.

As the evening wore on, I went to check on her and she wasn't in her spot under the sink anymore, but I found her in her other spot which is a little box tucked in the corner of the living room where she liked to sleep and hide.  I didn't think much of it because there were times when she slept alot and then would get up in the middle of the night and roam the house full of energy from all the napping she did during the day.  That night was no exception and when I heard her roaming the house and playing I just thought it was a normal night for her. 


The next day I went out to do some errands and Gareth was at work when I returned.  I was greeted by both my cats at the door as usual and it was feeding time so I got my boy cat a can of food and she has a routine to follow me to the bathroom where she climbs on the sink to get a drink of water after I wash up.  I noticed as she was drinking she had trouble swallowing the water and realized something wasn't right. 

As the evening progressed I noticed she stopped eating and drinking, so I gave her a little bit of vanilla ice cream that she always loved.  She ate it and I thought maybe she just had a sore throat or something.  I kept my eye on her throughout the night and noticed she kept going from spot to spot as if she couldn't get comfortable.  She also kept going into the bathroom to play with the water which she always done since she was a kitten.  This is one cat who loved water and would climb in the shower with me and get wet.  But as she got older, she grew out of that and would only play in the sink or wait til after I got my shower and then go in and play in the puddles left behind. 


Around 2am I noticed she still wasn't drinking water or wanting food and I started to get really worried.  She being almost 18 years old didn't have the strength to go that long without food and water.  At 4am, my other cat came and sat next to her as she laid by the back door.  They touched noses and looked at each as if comforting each other.  Around 6am she got up on the window seat and watched the sun rise and I sat with her talking to her and petting her.  I called the vet when they opened and made an appointment to get her in to be checked.  I decided to get a shower and as I was doing this she crawled into the tub with me, meowed, and not wanting her to get wet quickly turned off the water. She splashed about in the puddles as if she was a kitten again.  Then laid down out of exhaustion and gave me a sad look. 


At this point I was fighting back tears and telling myself they could give her some fluids and she'll be back on her feet.  But when Gareth got home and saw her lying in the tub I heard him whisper, "Oh no, its not good."  And it wasn't.  We took her to vets but she was diagnosed with kidney failure and as I held her in my arms, wrapped in her blanket, I talked to her of all the journeys we had been on and told her she had one more journey to make and that this time I wasn't going with her.  I told her I loved her and thanked her for the many years of love she had given me and the family.  She had been brought home from the humane society home by my mother and became the family pet.  When my parents died I took her in and she has been with me every step of the way through all my travels and adventures.  She was the last link of my current life to the past life I had with my family and the place where I grew up.  As we gathered around her, I held her in my arms as she looked into my eyes she passed away. 


Its been a full 24 hours now without her and I feel heartbroken and lost.  This is the first day that is she is not there when I look for her.  I expect to see her walking by on her way to something that interested her or tossing a toy around or crawling up on my lap to get a scratch.  There was a plant on the back porch she always nibbled at and I would yell at her to not eat the plant.  It still has the bite marks from her last snack attack. 


My other cat is now walking around just as lonely and lost and sad as I am.  He jumps into my lap and gives me such a sad look.  Every noise the house makes he looks excitedly as if she made the noise and when he realizes it was just a noise he lays down on the floor, head between his two paws and mourns for his friend. 

I can find comfort in knowing that I got to spend almost 18 years with my little friend.  Still, saying goodbye is never easy and when someone you love goes from being a part of your life to just a photo of a memory on a shelf you realize how fast time goes by and how short of time we have to spend with each other on this planet.   I'll never forget my little friends passion for life and how even on her darkest day, she found time to play in one last puddle and enjoy being alive one last time.  I love you, my dear friend.  Goodbye.

Hurling Semi-Finals

In the Munster Hurling Semi-final Tipperary's Lar Corbett scores third goal between Patrick Donnellan and Patrick O'Connor of Clare in Thurles, Ireland

Irish Summer Season

Ben Cohen Retires

Ben Cohen is retiring to spend more time on the cause to stop bullying and homophobia. What a man!

Memorial Day USA

An Irish hot dog for your Memorial Day cookout.

Obama In Dublin

Got to see Obama in Dublin last week and then had to head right out to sea for a few days. He seemed to be very popular here and even won over more fans when he drank almost a full glass of Guinness.

Playing On The Same Team

Giving new meaning to the sport term, "Coming from behind."

Garda

Heineken Cup Final

Gordon D'Arcy and Leinster will face the Northampton Saints in Saturday's Heineken Cup final at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff in a match up that includes six Irish national players.

Irish National Stud Visit

I can vouch the horses aren't the only studs in Ireland!

Bloody Sunday Remembrance

On 21 November 1920, during the War of Independence, 13 spectators and one player were killed when British forces opened fire at a football match at the home of Gaelic sports at Croke Park.


Earlier that day, IRA assassination squads had shot dead 14 suspected British intelligence agents in Dublin.


During the first visit by a British monarch to Ireland in 100 years, Queen Elizabeth visited Croke Park stadium in Dublin.


The Queen was met at the main entrance of Croke Park by Gaelic Athletic Association president Mr Cooney and President Mary McAleese, who is hosting the visit.


A display of Irish set dancing was followed by a meeting with GAA officials.

The BBC royal correspondent Peter Hunt said the Queen walking out on the hallowed nationalist turf at Croke Park represented "the once unimaginable becoming the norm".

Addressing the Queen, Mr Cooney said the visit would underpin and advance the peace process and "go down in the history of the GAA. Your presence does honour to our Association, to its special place in Irish life, and to its hundreds of thousands of members."


The Queen was presented with a limited edition book outlining the GAA's history, and Prince Philip was presented with a hurley stick and a sliothar (hurling ball), with the aside that he should use it "in the back garden".


Dublin footballer Kevin Nolan, who was one of four players from across Ireland to meet the Queen at Croke Park, told Radio Ulster's Evening Extra it was a "great honour" to represent the GAA at the event.


Her speech at Wednesday's state dinner is likely to acknowledge past UK-Irish difficulties without offering an apology, he added.

A Moment Of Silence And Respect

A day after Queen Elizabeth paid respect to those Irish who died in the struggle against Britain for Irish freedom she attended a ceremony and laid a wreath honoring almost 50,000 soldiers at the Irish National War Memorial.

The Queen's attendance at the ceremony honoring the Irish soldiers who died in World War I reflects an aspect of history that has been troubling for her hosts.

For decades, when the focus of admiration was on the rebels who fought and died in the 1916 Easter Rising, the soldiers' contribution went unrecognized.

Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson, who was among the dignitaries at the ceremony, said: "Everyone remembers the past but we have to look to the future, but there are clear indications as a society - in the UK and Republic - people are moving on.

Queen Visits The Guiness Storehouse

Sweet

On The Water