I know life can be strange at times and it’s full of little twists and turns but this, this borders on the absurd…
If you want the full poop on what I’m getting into here, it’d be best to read my daylog of yesterday. For anybody not inclined to do so, a short summary is in order.
In a nutshell, I went to consult a clergyman for the first time in over 25 years about some spiritual matters that I was facing and I was (and still am) hoping that he could help me with. Based on the events that were about to unfold, I wouldn’t call it a rip roaring start…
Oh, the visit went fine and the conversation was good. Not too deep and I guess it’s better to wade into those types of waters than to dive in head first. I was actually feeling pretty good about it and had some plans to have a couple of close friends over for dinner last night. We decided to go off the beaten path a bit and prepare a mélange of Greek food for the evenings festivities. I was looking forward to a nice relaxing evening at home.
“
Ding Dong”
Hmm, I think to myself, these guys are kinda early.
I go to the door and open it and instead of seeing the people I was expecting, I was greeted with sad eyes of my neighbor looking up at me.
“Hi, Laura, what’s up?”
“Highway is dead.”
Highway was my (our) cat. He was so-named by the little one because when we got him about a year ago he was still a kitten and he’d been found living on the side of the road and the name somehow just fit. (See my h/n for glimpse of the little critter, I’ll leave it up for a couple of days or so).
If you don’t believe in such things as love at first sight then you’ve never seen a little girl when she gets a kitten as a gift. The two had formed a bond and Highway would sleep with her almost each and every night she was at my place. He’d follow her up and down the block as she went off to play with her friends. He was one of those cats that would actually come when you called him and he absolutely loved people. To put it simply, Highway was a good cat.
He was crossing the street just as he had done countless times before and I guess he took it for granted one time too often. The person driving the car that hit him said never had a chance and by the looks of him laying there in the street, all bloodied with his tongue hanging out, the person was right. After some sincere apologies by driver of the vehicle it was time to move him. I was loading him up in a trash bag when my company arrived.
To spare you the gory details, Highway now rests in the bottom of a hole in the middle of my backyard. He took along with him his favorite toys, some catnip and some cat treats to ease his passage into wherever good cats go when they get their ticket punched. He will be deeply, deeply missed.
I don’t know how to break the news to Anna. It’s my turn to pick her tonight and right now I’m at a loss as to what to say. I’m sure the words will come and that they will be gentle and re-assuring and I hope they provide her with a measure of comfort. One thing I can guarantee, there’s gonna be plenty of tears shed by the both us tonight.
It’s awfully odd indeed that for the first time in over 25 years that I’ve reached out to a clergyman, something close to me up and died. Call it what you will, fate, circumstance, some kind of test, the irony is still there.
Rest in Peace Highway, chase lots of birds and mice and stuff okay?