A Grief Exchanged
The working title of my previous post was, "A Grief Exchanged."
I couldn't quite make the title work in my head, so I abandoned it for "Adoption," which still works well.
I'm re-claiming that title for this post, because I can make more sense of where I was going with my last post.
I got home tonight after spending a few hours with family, and a familiar-yet-distant feeling was on my mind:
Excitement.
Excitement because I was home.
Excitement because someone was waiting for me.
I've been feeling lately like the last year was almost a Dallas Dream Retcon type of interlude.
...that the past 12 months of mourning, sadness, and intense feelings of aimlessness were just a passing shadow, and that I am now what I always was:
A cat dad!!!
Now, please understand. I am not at all trying to equate cat "ownership" as some kind of great panacea for the soul, or some kind of great spiritual calling in and of itself (although... it really kinda IS). And truthfully, most of the things I struggled with during the past year of loss were things I struggled with even while I had my floofson with me.
But during the past 54 hours, I have felt the sadness of the past 12 months steadily effaced as I spoke to, cared for, fed and delighted in this "Wee, sleeket, cowrin, tim’rous beastie."
And in doing so, I exchanged grief over the loss of one floofchild for the joy of caring for another one.
I think Hobbes would be pleased.
Adoption
I wrote six months ago about the process of mourning and also my struggle to find another cat to adopt.
There were a couple times that I had visited with a cat at a shelter and slowly warmed up to the possibility of adopting them, only to find that the …
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Getting Back In Shape (For the Acutely and Chronically Under-Dopamined)
I've just started a new exercise regimen (because, you know, it was either that or apply for asteroid status*).
I've tried to get into exercise for... well... many, many years. I've even spent a lot of money of gym memberships that went absolutely nowhere.
I will say quickly that I …
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What Kid-Me Wanted To Do When He Grew Up
I sent a link to my blog to my best friend from high school, and he sent me back a screenshot of a poll I ran a month ago (dear God, where does the time go?) asking what I should post next on my blog.
The winning entry was for …
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A Grief Fulfilled
Just moments ago, I removed the cat bed that's been on the corner of my bed for the past nine months, and placed it in the closet.
Minutes before that, as I walked into my home, I called out to my cat one last time (which I had done nearly …
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Time
I was chilling out at the parking lot of In-N-Out after having lunch there (because the weather is pretty nice today), but decided to go to a local library to have a nice desk in front of me and do some reading/writing.
I asked the Oracle at Googlii (via …
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Six Months a Mourner
Content Warning: This post deals with the loss of a pet. Also, Christian themes.
This will probably be my last post on this subject for a while. I do not wish to labor the point, but today marks the sixth month of my cat passing, and I felt that I …
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How did we *survive*?!?
About an hour ago, I was catching up with an old friend from the 90s that I've kept in touch with through the years and visited several times (even though I moved to a different state at the end of that decade). We were part of a wonderfully tight-knit group …
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A Breath of Fresh Air
It's funny to me how simple, practical changes can produce lasting effects. It's also funny how something can seem so insurmountable when you're stuck in a certain mindset, only to realize that it's just a matter of a simple change of thinking and habits.
When I was younger (read: thirties …
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Fun Chance Meetings
A couple days ago, I was discussing with my counselor the importance of in-person relationships. I commented on how incredibly easy it is to open a computer and drop into a meaningful and enjoyable conversation within a few minutes (especially on the Fediverse!), but that it felt nearly impossible to …
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