bereft

two weeks ago, my beloved cat, Gabriel, passed away.

www.catphrodite.com/gabe.jpg

I walk a delicate path between numbness and despair . . .

ten years together . . . he was the jester of the house, always playful, a touch clumsy, smart with his paws, he liked to climb up people and smoosh his nose into their ears (out of love, of course). he never let a crumb go to waste, he liked to sing at night (Dan likened his "singing voice" to that of a demented Appalachian girl wandering through the dark.) he was quick to purr, always happy to have his tummy rubbed, he loved his catnip, and he knew how to make me laugh.

he came to me as a stray (as with all my cats, he chose to find me). he was my happy, little man.

the other cats wonder where he has gone, and I am missing a piece of my heart . . .