If tears could build a stairway
And memories a lane
I’d walk right up to heaven
And bring you home again

RIP, Merlin
May 2003 – March 16, 2012

And God asked the feline spirit
Are you ready to come home?
Oh, yes, quite so, replied the precious soul
And, as a cat, you know I am most able
To decide anything for myself.

Are you coming then? asked God.
Soon, replied the whiskered angel
But I must come slowly
For my human friends are troubled
For you see, they need me, quite certainly.

But don’t they understand? asked God
That you’ll never leave them?
That your souls are intertwined. For all eternity?
That nothing is created or destroyed?
It just is….forever and ever and ever.

Eventually they will understand,
Replied the glorious cat
For I will whisper into their hearts
That I am always with them
I just am….forever and ever and ever.

For Lucas
August 2006(?) – March 15, 2012

“Each time a cat leaves us, they take a piece of our hearts with them” ~ unknown ~

Tigger
May 2005 – February 16, 2012

If it should be, that I grow frail and weak,
And pain should keep me from my sleep,
Then, you must do what must be done
For this, the last battle, can’t be won.
Don’t let your grief stay your hand,
For this day more than the rest,
Your love and friendship stand the test.
We’ve had so many years,
What is to come can hold no fear.
You’d not want me to suffer, so
When the time comes, please let me go.
Take me where my needs they’ll tend,
Only, stay with me to the end
And hold me firm and speak to me
Until my eyes no longer see.
I know in time you’ll see it is a kindness you do for me
Although my tail its last has waved,
From pain and suffering I’ve been saved.
Don’t grieve it should be you who this thing decides to do.
We’ve been so close, we two, these years,
Don’t let your heart hold tears.
Smile, for we walked together for a while.

~author unknown~

“No amount of time can erase the memory of a good cat, and no amount of masking tape can ever totally remove his fur from your couch.” – Leo Dworken

“Who can believe that there is no soul behind those luminous eyes!” – Theophile Gautier

“The really great thing about cats is their endless variety. One can pick a cat to fit almost any kind of decor, color, scheme, income, personality, mood. But under the fur, whatever color it may be, there still lies, essentially unchanged, one of the world’s free souls.” – Eric Gurney

Those quotes are a perfect fit for Whiskey, who we rescued from animal control along with his mom and 3 siblings when they were only 24 hours old. Whiskey grew up to be a big sturdy goofball tabby boy, and he certainly left his big pawprints in our hearts. We couldn’t let him suffer any more from whatever problems he was having with his liver, so we tearfully set him free to cross the rainbow bridge yesterday. Fly, Whiskey, fly – find Bandit, Bali, Whiskers, and Oreo over there beyond the Rainbow Bridge. We will always love you, you silly kamakize kat.