Thanks Everyone (was: Goodbye Petey)

[RoyGBiv]

I keeping wanting to respond to everyone who offered me such nice thoughts and comforting words over the last couple days in regard to the loss of my buddy Petey, but every time I start to do it, I end up wanting to write a novel about Petey, and it just makes me break down again. You've all helped me take the edge of the sting of his loss, so to all of you, thank you for your very kind words, thoughts, and prayers.

I don't know precisely what I believe when it comes to an afterlife or other forms of existence, but I do believe in something. Petey came along at just the right time in my life, and as noted in the original thread, I more than half suspect in his death he let another little guy know where to go to find himself a home and someone who would love him.

Which is to say, another fella did come along, quite unexpectedly and without me looking for him, and has now adopted me. He got back from the vet today with a clean bill of health. The doctor said the man who picked him up (the security guard where I work) saved his life in more ways than one. He was trying to cross a very busy street at the time, but he was also severely dehydrated. We got some fluid in him, got his temperature down, and at the moment, he's trying to decide whether playing with my feet is more fun than playing with the toy mouse beside them.

The original thread.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x5344127

DU, meet the new guy, whose new name is Franky (aka Ol Blue Eyes). He's a white kitten with blue eyes who actually isn't deaf. Here he's reading all your wisdom along with me, and I know you can't really see him, but I thought this pic was incredibly cute.



And thanks again.

[Dangerously Amused]

1. Welcome Franky!

[RoyGBiv]

4. He says thanks ...

Actually, he says, "lllllllllllllllliiiiiiiiu2332222222222222222222222222222222222222222777777777777777777777777777777" but I made him condense it. :-)

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. My dear RoyGBiv......

What a wonderful story....you made me choke up again with it....

And a big welcome to Franky!

He is adorable, and grateful for his opportunity at a great new life!

I love the picture......

Safe passage to Petey, as well.....:hug:

[RoyGBiv]

5. Thanks, Peggy ...

Petey's at the Rainbow Bridge now. I'll see him again. :hug:

[Metta]

3. You stand in the doorway of love, it seems. ... coming and going.

A wonderful place. So happy, so sad. Lots of opportunities to take the higher road. Congratulations. :donut: :donut: :)

[RoyGBiv]

6. I shock myself sometimes ...

I was on the doorstep of falling completely apart, but Petey wouldn't have wanted that. That's what he saved me from a couple years ago.

The doorway is a strange place sometimes, but it's probably better than the alternatives. :-) I like that image.

Thanks.

[Metta]

14. The story of the sieve.

A master asked his students, "How can a sieve hold the ocean?" Some time and discussion, the master threw the sieve in the ocean. The uplift of one is the uplift of all.


:donut: :donut:

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

7. Welcome, Franky.

Petey would (and no doubt, does) approve.

[Hissyspit]

8. There's always someone else who needs your love and care, too

Good for you. Thanks for letting us know.

[SeattleGirl]

9. Welcome, Franky!

You arrived at exactly the right time.

[smokey nj]

10. Congrats RoyGBiv on your new kitty......

Hi Franky and congrats on your great new home.

[Richard Steele]

11. Ok, if this is out of line please ignore it: Why don't you just DO it?

"Write a novel" about Petey, I mean.
If you keep STARTING to do that unintentionally,
then maybe it's something that you really need to do.

It's not like you even need to SHOW it to anyone.
Just something to do to help YOU.

Putting strong feelings into writing, into actual
words that you can LOOK AT on paper or a screen,
can be an amazingly cathartic experience,
and a very useful tool for getting a handle
on overwhelmingly strong emotions.

As I said, if that's a bad idea, please just ignore it.
I really don't mean to be presumptuous or stick my nose
in your personal business.

At any rate, tell little Franky, "Welcome to DU!", and
give him a nice scritchin' from DickSteele.
While he may be lucky to be alive, he's JUST as lucky
to be with a person who is gonna love him and spoil him
as much as you will!

[RoyGBiv]

20. Not out of line at all ...

Writing has always been my personal form of therapy. Maybe I will write a novel about Petey, or at least a short story, at some point. The problem, now, is that I simply can't do it without falling into a mess of emotion. Perhaps that's not a bad thing, but on the technical side, it is rather difficult to write through eyes filled with tears. That's a half-joke. I also deal with things with humor, and as the shock has started to subside, humor has started to take over. I probably annoyed everyone at work today with funny stories of Petey when he was alive.

One brief one I'll share with y'all.

I had to call in "sick" to work one day because of Pete. Before he even came into my life, I had set an old laser printer in the window above my bed after it broke down. I have no idea why really, nor do I have a clue why I left it there except that it was big, not the easiest thing to move, and I'm a pack-rat ... hard to throw anything away. The thing weighed about 50 pounds. Petey had always completely ignored it. It didn't get in the way of his being able to get in the window and survey his kingdom outside, so he just coexisted with it; I often wonder now what he thought of it, probably nothing nice. One morning, however, for no particular reason I can fathom, he decided to climb on top of it, or at least that's what I assume since the thing had managed to stay there with no problem for two years and then suddenly fell. The thing was top-heavy as well, so with his moving around, it dropped ... onto my head, knocking me unconscious. I can tell you it's a really weird feeling to "wake up" to unconsciousness. That is, I remember this vague feeling of intense pain as the corner of the printer struck my head, then bright colors, then nothing for I don't know how long. I only know I woke up around 9, an hour and a half after I'm supposed to be at work, with Petey sitting on my chest watching me, the phone ringing, and a big object lodged in my skull. It was my mother calling to check on me. The people at work had called me and getting no answer had called my mother. She was panicked, of course, but finally got through. I was mostly incoherent, so she insisted I go to the ER, which I did after she arrived to take me.

When I went to work the next day, none the worse for wear and suffering no real damage, I got to talking with people about what happened. I mentioned Petey and the fact that I had changed his brand of food recently. He didn't particularly like it, and I did eventually change back. They all made good-natured fun and decided he was trying to tell me something with the printer fiasco.

Change my food, will you...

Of course I know he wasn't consciously trying to hurt me, and maybe he perhaps had an "oh shit" moment after it happened, sitting on me to make sure I was okay. (He also was much more cuddly in the days that followed, which is saying something since he was very affectionate anyway.) Just trying to get my attention and not aware of the potential consequences...

I will laugh at that for the rest of my life.

In any case, I did want to let you know you offer good advice, but I should mention that "write a novel" is sort of an expression. Back in my BBS days, back when the transfer speeds were so slow you could read the text in a message as it appear on the screen, I was often accused of "writing novels" rather than posts.

This note should offer some idea of why. :-) Every response I want to make is lengthy, but y'all have been so nice, so comforting, and so essential to my getting through this, that I don't want to overdo it.

Thanks again.

[REP]

12. I Confess; I Didn't Read the Original Thread

I was afraid it was about a cat. My Petey (actual name Pete, or Pete-You-Idiot) died almost exactly five years ago. He was an enormous brown tabby Maine Coon that, even when he could walk (he died of primary degenerative encephalomyelopathy and nonregenerative anemia) he preferred not to - he wanted to be held every moment of the day, if possible.

I still miss him terribly.

Your wonderful follow-up story does help prove a theory of mine - that when a beloved cat passes on, they direct other cats to their people. There's an enormous grey and white Maine Coon sitting on the back of my chair who showed up shortly after Pete died. His other job is to keep me from floating off the bed when I sleep. I'm guessing Frankie's current job is to make sure there's sensation in your toes.

I'm very sorry about your Petey, and I'm very happy about your Frankie.

[RoyGBiv]

21. It's really weird ...

When I got Petey I was in no position to take on the responsibility of taking care of another life. I was near fatally depressed, completely broke, and had no idea what I was going to be doing the next day, much less the next month or so. Petey showed up howling to be let in. It was almost as though he were saying, "I know you're in there, and I'm not leaving until you acknowledge me." I had had no interaction with him at all before. He'd been around, of course, but the neighbor had been the one that fed him, tried to take him in, then abandoned him because of her husband. There was no doubt he was trying to get to me, though. He stared right at me when I looked out.

So, he came in, and he never left. Once, from carelessness, I left the door open, and he got out. He stood outside a few seconds, sniffed the air, then RAN right back in again. He had no intention of leaving.

This new little bugger seems to be much the same so far. He's a kitten and so has more of a curiosity to explore, but I carried him outside yesterday just to introduce him to the neighbors, and he was yowling the whole time. The instant I walked back in, he calmed, and everything was okay. As for our meeting, 23rd St in OKC is not an area you're going to see a lot of cats, at least not living ones, and certainly not near downtown. Yet, there he was, almost like he was waiting for his ride to come be with me.

Maybe I'm reading too much into it, and maybe I could get all rational and explain things in various ways. I have no desire for that kind of rationality at the moment, though. I'm convince he found me because he was meant to do so. I think your theory has a lot of substance.

Thanks, and take care.

[RevCheesehead]

13. Franky!!

You're adorable! Thank you for finding such a wonderful home!!!

[Phillycat]

15. I love this story and I'm so happy for you.

:hug:

[ScreamingMeemie]

16. Baby Licorice says "hi"

Your post moved me so much. I can't explain it, but I think we all realy felt the loss that day. :hug:

[RoyGBiv]

22. Franky says "hi" right back...

He's actually staring at the screen right now, trying to type his own words over mine.

We haven't got this "ownership of the keyboard" thing worked out yet.

Licorice is adorable. :hug:

[City Lights]

17. Welcome, Franky!

You've found a wonderful home and made someone very happy. And you've got a great name. ;-)

[Polly Hennessey]

18. Petey

I am sure Petey made certain that you would have another little guy to take care of you. Looks like Franky is going to make your life better and just as happy as Petey did.

[RoyGBiv]

23. I think so too ...

Petey was my guardian angel even when he was alive.

I'm sure he's in an even better spot to carry out those duties now.

[driver8]

25. I agree.

When we lost our dog Cody last year, Buddy came into our lives two weeks later. My wife said that "Cody brought Buddy to us."

I like to think so.

[RoyGBiv]

26. BTW ...

I meant to mention this, but I somehow managed not to do it.

That's a great picture of Buddy. He looks incredibly happy, which of course is the best testament there is.

Based on experiences a friend of mine has had, I can say it must be really hard to lose a Border Collie. They get so incredibly involved with your lives.

Looks to me like you found a good friend to take care of you, though.

I just can't say it enough. DU is a wonderfuly place, and I'm not quite sure what I would have done these past few days without it.

[UrbScotty]

19. Oh, how heartwarming.

:hug:

[driver8]

24. What a great picture!!

Glad to hear that you decided to open your heart and home to Franky. Like I said before, I think Petey would approve!

Best of luck to both of you and keep us posted!!

[gkdmaths]

27. you bastard!

you made me get all misty. kittens are my soft spot, but you didnt hear it from me.

Im glad it's worked out for you and Mr. Sinatra.

:hi:

[Skittles]

28. all I know is

it would not be heaven without our pets