- Joined
- Jul 2, 2019
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Yes, she was a cat, but please keep on reading.
This can't be good-bye
"Remember, we treat our body like a temple, we don't get into cat fights and we watch for cars. We don't hurt any little animals and neither one of us goes before the other. I mean it Jeff, don't you hurt me, don't you make me cry."
I don't know why but seeing Jeff always had a calming effect on me, like everything was gonna be alright.
And with those words and a kiss on top of her head, I would send her out into the night. Only on March 29th I was in a hurry and somebody else put her out. On that night I had just come back from a seven hour trip on the road and I was exhausted. I greeted Jeff as she came around the house and brought her in with me, but being so worn out from the trip, I quickly retreated to the t.v. room, leaving someone else to feed her. After a few minutes into a show a bad feeling about Jeff came over me and fear flooded my mind. I ran up the stairs and rushed back to the front room, but by that time it was too late, Jeff had already gobbled down her dinner and had gone out. Real panic began to set in and I found myself uncharacteristically going outside every hour, calling her name. I kept calling out for her until I finally passed out at four.
Jeff couldn't come to my pleading calls nor could she even hear them, she was already gone from this world
Jeff
Jeff was her name, and she was a 15 pound Tabby Cat with a wild exotic face in the likes that I have never seen before. She had the long jungle cat face, equipped with the wide-set gold eyes of a cougar and the mischievous grin of a bob-cat. She looked worldly wise, very sophisticated, and I had a hard time picturing Jeff as a kitten. I remembering my mother visiting me and when seeing Jeff she remarked: "That cat looks like she holds all the secrets of the world." She came into my life seven years ago.
One day a raggedy tabby cat decided to take up residence in my backyard shed. When I noticed him I thought to myself that this old tom cat has come here to die. He was skinny, raggedy, and frankly looked like he was fed up with life. He took up residence in my back shed. I had to watch him from afar because he would bolt the minute his eyes would catch mine. I began the path towards friendship by bringing him food and cold skim milk. This proved to be a tricky feat since he was so wary of every step I made. I always had to stop a great distance from him, put the food down, and walk away saying: "I won't' bother you any." I made sure not to change even one step in that routine in fear of eroding any progress towards trust He eventually began to let his guard down and we found ourselves edging physically closer to one another every few days. Five months passed since I first discovered Jeff and I decided one day to reach out and touch him, which turned out to be an arrogant mistake on my part. He jumped a foot in the air and I quickly retreated with a mummer of "I'm sorry, I should have asked." The next day I held out my hand to him while keeping my eyes down. He slowly sniffed my offering hand, and then jumped up on his hind feet to bump it with his head. We were finally friends, and neither one of us looked back.
I soon discovered that Jeff was a she but the name stuck.
Her Personality
Every night she would greet my car and if I lingered too long in it, listening to the radio, she would proceed to jump up and down on the hood. She was a huge cat with an equally size zest for life: she played hard, she ate with a gusto, and she was fiercely loyal to me. She possessed the unique quality of making me feel as though I was the only person in her world. I felt very honored and very special indeed when I was with her.
Her humor was boundless. Whenever I would dig in my yard I would always have Jeff, right next to me, digging. Her favorite game was to tackle me as I walked through the yard, wrapping her arms around my lower legs and giving them a gentle bite. She had a little bit of wickedness to her humor. To get a horrified reaction from me she would always act like she was going to nail every hapless little mammal that wandered into our yard. On spotting such a creature she would crouch down real low while looking at me from the side of her eye. On cue I would say "No Jeff!" which caused her to relax her position, sit back, and calmly stare at me with that bobcat grin on her face. She also got a kick out of tormenting my neighbor's German Shepherd whenever I was working outside because she knew I would protect her.
Her Legacy: Compassion
Jeff proved she was like no other last summer when she gifted me with a baby bunny, who was not only still alive, but also completely uninjured. She laid the little guy on the top of my feet and then sat back, beaming. I knew that she gave me the bunny because she loved me. I also knew why it was unharmed, Jeff had compassion-she knew the value of life. But another reason just recently dawned on me: Jeff's history revealed a cat who knew true friendships were rare, something to be earned, and never, ever, be taken for granted. Therefore. in her mind, it was well worth the work of catching a bunny for the one she loved.
When I got my kitten, Darby, none of my cats would play with him, except Jeff. She nurtured him. I write about this with great awe, because Jeff was never a young cat, and I know she had better things to do than to babysit a lonely kitten.
Search ends and pain begins
The search for Jeff ended where it began, in the shed she loved so much. I found her that following Sunday morning, laying on her side, just a few feet inside. I spent the last 36 hours looking for her, calling her name, and praying that maybe she was only hurt, perhaps the result of a cat fight or being clipped by a car. I would find her, hurt, shaken, but alive.
Jeff's Death Certificate
Cause of death: Blood-clot
Time of Death: Shortly after she was let out
Results of Death: Confusion, profound sadness, lingering grief, and a stunning realization that things will never be okay again.
This can't be good-bye
"Remember, we treat our body like a temple, we don't get into cat fights and we watch for cars. We don't hurt any little animals and neither one of us goes before the other. I mean it Jeff, don't you hurt me, don't you make me cry."
I don't know why but seeing Jeff always had a calming effect on me, like everything was gonna be alright.
And with those words and a kiss on top of her head, I would send her out into the night. Only on March 29th I was in a hurry and somebody else put her out. On that night I had just come back from a seven hour trip on the road and I was exhausted. I greeted Jeff as she came around the house and brought her in with me, but being so worn out from the trip, I quickly retreated to the t.v. room, leaving someone else to feed her. After a few minutes into a show a bad feeling about Jeff came over me and fear flooded my mind. I ran up the stairs and rushed back to the front room, but by that time it was too late, Jeff had already gobbled down her dinner and had gone out. Real panic began to set in and I found myself uncharacteristically going outside every hour, calling her name. I kept calling out for her until I finally passed out at four.
Jeff couldn't come to my pleading calls nor could she even hear them, she was already gone from this world
Jeff
Jeff was her name, and she was a 15 pound Tabby Cat with a wild exotic face in the likes that I have never seen before. She had the long jungle cat face, equipped with the wide-set gold eyes of a cougar and the mischievous grin of a bob-cat. She looked worldly wise, very sophisticated, and I had a hard time picturing Jeff as a kitten. I remembering my mother visiting me and when seeing Jeff she remarked: "That cat looks like she holds all the secrets of the world." She came into my life seven years ago.
One day a raggedy tabby cat decided to take up residence in my backyard shed. When I noticed him I thought to myself that this old tom cat has come here to die. He was skinny, raggedy, and frankly looked like he was fed up with life. He took up residence in my back shed. I had to watch him from afar because he would bolt the minute his eyes would catch mine. I began the path towards friendship by bringing him food and cold skim milk. This proved to be a tricky feat since he was so wary of every step I made. I always had to stop a great distance from him, put the food down, and walk away saying: "I won't' bother you any." I made sure not to change even one step in that routine in fear of eroding any progress towards trust He eventually began to let his guard down and we found ourselves edging physically closer to one another every few days. Five months passed since I first discovered Jeff and I decided one day to reach out and touch him, which turned out to be an arrogant mistake on my part. He jumped a foot in the air and I quickly retreated with a mummer of "I'm sorry, I should have asked." The next day I held out my hand to him while keeping my eyes down. He slowly sniffed my offering hand, and then jumped up on his hind feet to bump it with his head. We were finally friends, and neither one of us looked back.
Her Personality
Every night she would greet my car and if I lingered too long in it, listening to the radio, she would proceed to jump up and down on the hood. She was a huge cat with an equally size zest for life: she played hard, she ate with a gusto, and she was fiercely loyal to me. She possessed the unique quality of making me feel as though I was the only person in her world. I felt very honored and very special indeed when I was with her.
Her humor was boundless. Whenever I would dig in my yard I would always have Jeff, right next to me, digging. Her favorite game was to tackle me as I walked through the yard, wrapping her arms around my lower legs and giving them a gentle bite. She had a little bit of wickedness to her humor. To get a horrified reaction from me she would always act like she was going to nail every hapless little mammal that wandered into our yard. On spotting such a creature she would crouch down real low while looking at me from the side of her eye. On cue I would say "No Jeff!" which caused her to relax her position, sit back, and calmly stare at me with that bobcat grin on her face. She also got a kick out of tormenting my neighbor's German Shepherd whenever I was working outside because she knew I would protect her.
Her Legacy: Compassion
Jeff proved she was like no other last summer when she gifted me with a baby bunny, who was not only still alive, but also completely uninjured. She laid the little guy on the top of my feet and then sat back, beaming. I knew that she gave me the bunny because she loved me. I also knew why it was unharmed, Jeff had compassion-she knew the value of life. But another reason just recently dawned on me: Jeff's history revealed a cat who knew true friendships were rare, something to be earned, and never, ever, be taken for granted. Therefore. in her mind, it was well worth the work of catching a bunny for the one she loved.
When I got my kitten, Darby, none of my cats would play with him, except Jeff. She nurtured him. I write about this with great awe, because Jeff was never a young cat, and I know she had better things to do than to babysit a lonely kitten.
Search ends and pain begins
The search for Jeff ended where it began, in the shed she loved so much. I found her that following Sunday morning, laying on her side, just a few feet inside. I spent the last 36 hours looking for her, calling her name, and praying that maybe she was only hurt, perhaps the result of a cat fight or being clipped by a car. I would find her, hurt, shaken, but alive.
Jeff's Death Certificate
Cause of death: Blood-clot
Time of Death: Shortly after she was let out
Results of Death: Confusion, profound sadness, lingering grief, and a stunning realization that things will never be okay again.
Your tribute is very, very beautiful. The Ancient Ones had the tradition of the Rainbow Bridge by referring to the Milky Way as the Sky Trail and the end of the trail is towards the south/southwest. Perhaps in the night sky, you will receive a sign that Jeff is now part of something bigger and better than we can imagine. Their spirits, like ours, return to the Creator, to be with the ancestors and those yet to be born. Our souls may sleep quietly in Sheol, awaiting judgment and Resurrection but animals are spared that. 
