TGIF

Every night the ancient cat pulls herself up on to my bed with great difficulty.

It takes some time for her and the effort is painful.

She comes straight up the comforter to where my head lies on the pillow, nuzzles my hair, and purrs herself to sleep hugging me tightly.

She used to roam the neighborhood during the day but she senses now that she’s too old, too  slow, too deaf, to do so safely.

She stays in and stays close.

She knows the end is coming and she wants company when it arrives.

I’m preparing for it, getting ready for another goodbye.

The preparation won’t help much…I will grieve deeply.

I hate death.

Death is the inevitable end for us all, pets and people… the last word in this world is always goodbye.

Good Friday.

The day that Jesus died.

How can we possibly call that good?

We call it good because by His death, death itself was defeated.

Today, we lament the death of our Savior, and all He endured for us.

We lament the existence of death and all the pain it brings to us and those we love.

We stand in grief knowing the price that was paid for our redemption and the redemption of the whole creation.

We should lament it fully…we need to know it in its awful fullness if we are to know the real wonder of its defeat.

However, we know the end of the story.

He rose again.

Because He did,we will too.

I believe that.

I’ll miss this cat when she goes…I still miss my friend Chester every day.

I miss some people too…

I wish they’d never had to go.

Thank God for Jesus.

Good Friday…when the last words in this world were changed from “goodbye” to “see you later” .

Make your own application…

I wrote that piece a few years ago.

I never wrote the rest of the story because that cat died the worst death of any animal I’ve ever owned.

She declined suddenly and dramatically and the few minutes it took to get her to the vet were full of pain and terror.

I’ve never seen such terror in one of mine and I’ve never gotten over it.

She did not die in peace…she never heard any of my affirmations of love or thanks for her years of friendship.

She died screaming with the last reserves her little body could muster.

Most of the time we are able to sanitize and anesthetize death, whether it be the death of a human or a pet.

We follow it with talk of “rainbow bridges” and have “celebrations of life”.

This cat would have none of those lies accompany her and she faced death for what it was and what it is.

The last enemy.

It has taken me years to speak of that day, though the pictures in my mind appear without notice and those pictures taunt and condemn me.

The older I get, the less time the memories have to torment me, because every day seems to bring news of fresh grief.

The older I get , the more grief I carry and the more grief I anticipate, the better Good Friday becomes.

Death was defeated.

I wish I’d been able to speak to Mommacat about Easter…but I’ll see her soon.

Make your own application…