Today we are grieving for Gomez, who died yesterday in the fullness of old age. He has been going downhill slowly for the past 6 months or so, but got much worse over the past couple of weeks. We, of course, are in Brighton so Son of had to deal with this. But there's a comfort in that, too, because Gomez always loved Son of more than anyone else.
Gomez has been a part of the fabric of our family life for 16 years, since he was a tiny 8 week old kitten. He had a full sized space in our life. My day began with Gomez running up to greet me chirping and purring. Then we would have a bit of a cuddle and a chat, while I cleaned his dishes and fed him. We all sat elsewhere, so as not to disturb him, when he was taking up this chair or that sofa. We planted cat nip in a shady spot for him, we made room for him to lie in the shade of the planters on our deck. We grocery shopped where we could get the chicken livers he loved so much. Now we have a Gomez-shaped hole in our family.
He had a good life and he died well-loved and that is as much as any of us can hope for. We will miss him.
This Tuesday:
We had the coldest day in 27 years and a few inches of snow. There were two memorable events. First, I was alone in the flat and I heard a big engine revving and wheels spinning. It was a double decker bus struggling to get up the road in front of our house. It got to the top, slipped sideways and could go no further. It may have hit a parked car. It was towed away sometime later. Second, the COG was off taking photos in the snow. He had gotten quite far up the seafront and walked to the nearest bus stop (maybe 1.5 or 2 miles across town from home). After he had waited a long time, the electronic board that tells when the next buses are arriving went off. It came on a moment later saying that all buses had been cancelled, so he had to walk home in the cold, snow, and terrible walking/driving conditions. He survived, of course. All the snow is gone, now.
