Paws, and reflect...

it would be the ultimate sin of a writer searching for greatness...to sprinkle cliches into a piece...but such is the sin of grief, and I sprinkle this freely...my cat, Donut, passed away yesterday...he was 15, would have been 16 this May...and he was adopted at the age of 5 months from a shelter...and so goes the expression we attribute to all rescue pets...did we rescue Donut, or did he rescue us?...I do remember vividly how painfully nervous he was when we brought him home...until I set the table for dinner that first night, and without hesitation, he hopped onto our fourth chair...so, this was the way it's going to be, I thought inside...much like a story Lauren wrote in elementary school...Donut was our "human cat"...as we poured over old photos last night, I had to smile...remembering the antics of kittenhood...and one episode in particular...an episode of "Friends" on our television...Joey and Chandler at the foosball table...Donut's emerald eyes zeroing in...and the high jump against the screen, paws attacking that foosball table in earnest...ironically, repeats of "Friends" late at night would be his joy, burrowing into his blanket on Lauren's bed...a strange affection for Matt LeBlanc's voice...which prompted us to call him at 11pm..."Donut, the Joey show is on"...he endured so many health issues...which has prompted me to attribute 99 lives to his story...and when it seemed his time on the 16th...he defied all odds and was home the next day...allowing us another week with our furry boy...part of me will always think he did this for us...struggled so hard to repay the love we showered on him all those years...I don't know how I feel about this "Rainbow Bridge"...but I'll tell you what I do know...when my Donut passed to a better place...and saw all those beautiful cats and dogs and other pets...he probably said, "no way"...and detoured through another door...where he would be welcomed by my Dad, who never got to meet him...my Dad would say, "Donut, that wasn't very nice of you to scratch your Grandma like that!"...and Donut would smile, and tilt his head and stare back...and Dad's frown would turn upwards...a warm smile...then he'd pet Donut's head and say..."We've got some catching up to do...but first...a tuna sandwich"...