My Valentine

bear

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My Valentine

Here I sit. His collar wraps around my left wrist. His oversized heart shaped dark red tag proudly claiming he was my Valentine. His bell rings occasionally as I type.

He resided as the former stud of the feral colony between my employer’s parking lot and an urban creek. He injured his rear leg, likely from contact with a vehicle. My efforts to capture him for TNR increased. He managed to escape all my prior attempts. Days earlier, he sat on the other side of a chain link fence. His back and face fur covered in frost and ice from freezing rain. Clearly, he had a family earlier in his life. It was easy to see he had higher interest in people than do most cats. He would not step up to the fence to take the ham from my breakfast sandwich.

A friend of feral cats provided me a larger Hav-A-Heart to catch this 15-pound strong male. It was Valentine’s Day and the larger trap rode across the rear seat for the one-hour trip into work. As a single male, I was bored and nauseous of all the “Obligatory Romance Day” noise emanating from a radio station that was supposed to be talk and commercial free. With a raised voice, I admonished the radio and DJ (a friend of mine) and extolled that all I wanted was music. I promised I would call the big brown tabby male Valentine if only he would step into the larger cage today.

By noon he stepped into the cage.

Valentine_2018Nov08_2_2x3.jpg

A few weeks later, I needed to integrate this new foster into my cats. My first cat FurBall was frail and I held her in my arms. As the phone rang, she jumped from my arms to the desk. I turned around as my old girl jumped to the floor were the big semi feral male had been placed. I yelled “Please don’t hurt her" as I ran around the desk. There the big boy was gently grooming my gentle old girl. In the confusion, the door opened and my strongest male that was always seeking any chance to attack FurBall came into the room. He rushed her, only to be blocked by the new large tabby staring eye to eye and protecting my old girl. Rather than being placed for adoption, this boy earned a place in my home.

For more than a dozen years, when it would rain, I would find him up against a glass door. He would look up at me, as if remembering the freezing rain on his face and coat. He always seemed happy being an indoor cat, and not in the cold.

I have been blessed with 4 cats, that although varying in age when they joined me, lived to be between 15 and almost 20 years of age. Each vastly different than the others. Nature provided me with the most wonderful gifts and lessons in friendship, awe, beauty, caring, and understanding.

Today I move Valentine’s records from my active cats health portfolio, to my former friends portfolio.
As I have for the others, I will lock his collar and tags into the three-ring binder. The first collar I locked was FurBall’s. Early the next morning, Valentine had jumped to the desk, unlocked the binder rings and with his teeth carried my FurBall’s collar to me.
 
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Mamanyt1953

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Rest you gentle, Valentine, dream you deep. You walk in someone's heart forever.

When we are very, very lucky, we are blessed to know a cat whose small body should not be capable of holding their great hearts and gentle spirits. They should be too much for fur to contain. Whether they are with us for a lifetime or a season, their pawprints live in our hearts forever, and our own spirits yearn for them. Thank you for sharing Valentine's story. If what I have experienced is true, he and Miss Furball are waiting for you in That Place Where All Things Are Known, and there will be a reunion.
 

solomonar

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This is the story of Fierce Lioness and his Benevolent Dragon. Once upon a time, when the Dark Forest covered the whole Earth, brave Lioness was born in the Enchanted Bush, near the Dragons' platform. Dragons - as everybody knows, but is worth remembering - need a large plain to take off and to land. They adore to drift and meander over the Dark Forest and through the Meaningless Mountains.

The Fierce Lioness's parents upskilled her to avoid the Dragons and to hunt- in this particular order. Then she began her trip in this life, catching small prey and learning every day to obey the Great Law of Everything. One day she was so captivated by the Dragon's fly on the sky that she forgot to jump in time and the Dragons' wings touched her. A long time of pain and starvation followed, to the moment the Wise Man succeded to heal her wounded leg.

Now is the time to ask ourselves why the Liones got her name - Fierce Lioness? She was so kind and fluffy (if we dare to call the lion's fur "fluffy"), and she never attacked any of the Green Trolls, although they pull her tail whenever they could. The Wise Man emblazoned a small tear sign on her left shoulder, to state that she is allowed to cry in life, but not to give up ever.

Dragons didn't know the Love from birth because the Wise Man didn't let them know the Love. And this was on a purpose: every Dragon should discover Love, to deeply understand what Love does mean. You know, not even the Wise Man could seed Love, that is something that each Creature must do on its own.

From the High Sky, the Benevolent Dragon saw the Fierce Lioness beneath an old tree, liking his leg. This Dragon was looking for Love but unsuccessful so far, that is a pity, isn't it? The She-Dragon - of course, it was a "she", one can bet it is a she because of the very long eyelashes - told the Lioness: "I think I am in love with you!" And she continued: "Although I didn't know what Love means by now, which is somehow strange". The Fierce Lioness said nothing - lions do not talk- but blinked her eyes - and everybody knows what this gesture means in the felines' universal language.

Then the benevolent She-Dragon brought the Fierce Lioness to her cave in the Meaningless Mountains and live a happy life together, sharing food, bad events, and happy events, for a very very long time. But, do you remember that the Fierce Lioness learned the Geat Law? One morning, the benevolent Dragon found the Fierce Lioness sleeping on the floor of the cave her tear symbol vanished from her shoulder. The Dragon knew the Soul of the Lioness was no longer wondering the cave and the forest but was going back to the realm of the stars, where all the Felines wait to come down to the Earth. We are sure about that because all the scientists agree that the stars are Feline's eyes.

The Dragon cried and cried and fall asleep. When she woke up the next morning, she saw in the mirror a tear symbol over her left wing. She smiled, she knows why but we do not.
 

di and bob

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The beautiful story above gives us hope that even though we are filled with grief, there is, deep inside us, the dawning knowledge that our loved ones have left their mark in our lives and will be forever near.........
Valentine....how aptly named. A beautiful little soul who entered your home on the special day he was named for and will never leave your heart. You gave him everything he yearned for and more. The wonderful home you provided and the love you created between the two of you is all he ever wanted. In return, he gave you his heart, a perpetual Valentine for you to cherish and hold in your soul to comfort you in your time of pain. That bond you have with this sweet boy will never be taken from you, it is spiritual, so eternal. Though your home is a little emptier without his physical presence, that hole will eventually be filled with your memories and the love he will continue to send your way.
Though your eyes cry and your soul feels heavy with pain, time will bring a lessening, a lightening, because the soul cannot endure such pain forever. The soul yearns for happiness, for more love and light. We are left behind and are alive. And life seeks peace and beauty that only truly living and loving can bring. None of us are guaranteed a tomorrow. We all must spend our time in a way that brings in as much love and life as we can. Yes, there are times that bring soul-crushing pain, that will bring us to our knees again and again. But the soul is strong and we are too. Much stronger than we will ever know. Lean on the strength of others who have been there and survived, and eventually, you will stand on your own and share your own strength with others who are weak with pain and grief. Because you understand what it is like to suffer. And suffer we do. Each and every loss is deeply personal. It is known only to you and the one you love, no one else. So the pain is not felt by anyone else either, we all suffer this special pain alone. But that pain CAN be shared and empathized with. I offer you my strength, my thoughts, and prayers. I know that little boy has peace because he has your love. Deep in your heart and soul, you will always carry his love too. "Do not cry because he is gone...smile because he was there"......May God be with you.....RIP dear Valentine. you will always be missed, you will always have a secure place in a loving heart. May the good Lord bless and keep you, until you meet again!
 

Tik cat's mum

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What a truly amazing cat. I'm so sorry for your loss. That was a beautiful tribute to a beautiful boy. RIP sweet Valentine:rbheart:
 
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