Signs

We’re nearly one week on from our loss, and our thoughts are filled with Jadey. There will be a time for culling the best photos together, and finding the movies we made. For now, we’re dealing with the shock and sadness of our cat’s death.

Good friends have helped us through these days, and for that we offer our dearest thanks. Dog owners, cat owners, and non-owners have written or stopped by to help ease our feelings.

One dog owner put it in perspective: 16.75 years is a fine life. Dog owners know their pet’s expectancy is a few years less than that. Our family was fortunate to have our beloved cat Jadey so long.

What has this week been like? There hasn’t been a day without tears–these are terrible moments when we feel sorry for her pain, and sorry for her last weeks of difficulty eating.

We’ve had lots of happy remembrances as well. Jadey got her mouse, twice, early that morning. She was in her glory, fully-functioning, and it makes us smile. There are scores of other great remembrances, and we will reflect on them all, in time.

A few days ago her ashes were prepared in a small black urn. I brought Jadey’s remains home via the route she would have taken back from the vet if she had checked out okay that day. So her and my drive home was bittersweet, my hand on the urn package the entire ten mile ride. Jadey was home again.

There have been a few odd household instances worth noting. The night of her death we had a short power outage that we weren’t aware of. Only when we noticed all the clocks flashing 12:00 did we determine the power must have been interrupted. The next day the basement door pushed open while I was doing laundry. Usually this was the result of a curious cat on the other side. The space was empty–and there was no breeze. We’ve found a few objects in very odd places, and her favorite bed, the last place she layed in the house, was quite warm three days later.

Today another odd sight made us smile and think of Jadey. At our front door, a small paw-print of light was formed on the rug from the prism effect of the door’s glass. It made perfect sense, although we’ve never seen this manifestation in the 15 years we’ve lived in this house.

One week on, we’ve kept Jadey’s spirit alive by talking about all the things we loved about our dear companion. The shock of her sudden death hurts us very much. We take comfort in supportive friends and in dear memories.

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Jadey is with us in spirit.