Skip to main content

Goodbye Bones

The death of someone special or close is tough, but it seems even more so when that death is around Christmas. Of all the holidays, losing someone at this time is hardest. On Christmas Eve morn 2016, my family said goodbye to Bones the cat.


Kim found him around 14 years ago in a rough neighborhood in Jackson, Mississippi. She was helping provide meals to volunteers of a World Changers construction ministry. While going to check on some students, she was met by them shouting, "Miss Kim, Miss Kim! You have to help this kitty! He's sick!" In the backyard of one the homes, the students had come across a litter of feral kittens. Bones was the only kitten they could catch. Kim placed him in a box, and one of the students thought she should ask the owners of the backyard if she could take him. The owner's son said she could take as many as she wanted.

At the vet, Kim was in tears because of how pathetic Bones appeared. The vet staff said they would find a good home for him, but by that time I think Kim had already decided he was family.

How did he come by the name Bones? When I met him, the picture below is what I saw. He looked and felt like a bag of bones. With the white fur and my love for Star Trek, it was clear his name had to be Bones.

I recall him taking a liking to snuggling with me and kneading my right chest. He never stayed long but this was nearly a nightly ritual for us since he was a kitten.

As he grew, it was obvious that he wasn't going to be a full-sized cat. Perhaps it was his breeding or malnourishment but he became known as our "little man." He was also the most skittish cat. He often slinked around as if thinking something was going to jump out and grab him. The only time he didn't seem nervous was at bedtime when the lights were out. Maybe he felt he had more control then and that nothing was going to surprise him. He often jerked when he was touched by surprise and even when he knew he was going to be picked up. I considered him a "Chihuahua Cat" thankfully without the random peeing.

Bones was "my cat" partially because he and I made up the only testosterone in the house.

Fourteen years and some change is a good life for a cat. I miss having my "little man" around.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Very Angry Prostate

Cancer.  No other word evokes so many emotions and consumes so many thoughts of both the one with the diagnosis and those who learn of it. On Tuesday, June 25, at 4:40pm, I learned that I have prostate cancer.  One of the questions I'm most asked: "How did you know to check?" Naturally, some wondered if I had signs or pains. There were none. Last September, I had my second physical with my new primary physician. With an age of 50, he requested a PSA (prostate-specific antigen) test be added to my blood panel. The next day, the results were in my portal. For my age, my PSA should be no higher than 4. My reading was 4.191. Since this number was out of range, the portal chart visually shouted at me that this was HIGH. Googling sent me into a spiral of thinking I might have prostate cancer which led to many thoughts of mortality. I was at work sitting in my cubicle attempting to calm myself and praying as waves of anxiety, thoughts and emotions washed in. I contacted my prima
2 comments
READ THE FULL STORY »

When Three Weeks Felt Like Three Months

These words have taken months to reconcile as I've wrestled with and revisited many times over. Summarizing three very long weeks of December 2023 has been quite the challenge. I was in Mississippi for what began as a hip fracture for my mother and ended in her passing. It's still rather surreal for her to be gone. The first Mother's Day without her impacted me more than what would've been her 86th birthday on January 24 or what would've been her 67th wedding anniversary on April 4. Not getting a call from her on my birthday July 1 was also a void which was filled with Dad calling in birthday wishes. My family being a thousand miles away for the last 20 years, only speaking on the phone once or twice a month, visits only being every few years due to life and expenses...it feels almost routine being disconnected from Mom. Yet, random memories and various regrets have trickled through my mind since those exhausting weeks in December. Three weeks which felt like three
2 comments
READ THE FULL STORY »

May We Never Forget

On this 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, I'm posting below a story I wrote on the 10th anniversary. These are my reflections on that day.  Looking at the first paragraph, it's interesting how times change. No one has asked me questions of where I was or what I was doing. I'm not sure if many of us have forgotten but more likely we're so very distracted. We've navigated almost two years of a pandemic that's taken and changed so many lives. We've navigated political and cultural changes poorly and emotionally to the point of creating more divisions.  We are not the country we were the weeks and months after 9/11. The bipartisan efforts then were refreshing. The amount of American flags flying proudly and in solidarity was inspiring. Today, it seems many despise their own country and its flag. But even this is not new. While she has stumbled over the years and will continue to do so - America will always be the most amazing country in the world. It
Post a Comment
READ THE FULL STORY »