And The Saga Continues...

OK, so ready for another dose of kitty-cat magic and bonkers coincidences? If so, you're in the right place!

As most of you know (and if you don't, have a quick read of my last 2 posts) our darling Mishka died almost two weeks ago, just a couple of months after our gorgeous Tez passed away, and once again, Mike and I found ourselves wondering what to do for the best with regards getting another kitten. Ten-week-old Bez's hyper giddiness and his determination to be best friends forever and play all day long with his 10 year old sister, Bethany, was not going down at all well with her, so we thought that another kitten might be a good playmate for Bez, and would let Bethany off the hook somewhat. Still, we were hesitant...would it upset Bethany even more if she suddenly had yet another kitten to contend with? After all, the poor little sweetheart had gone through so much just recently...losing two brothers and a sister with whom she had lived for most of her life, in the space of two years. We had no idea what to do, so took the only sensible course of action and handed the whole situation over to the Tao to sort out. If it was meant to be, we trusted we would be given a sign, or that a kitten would somehow just find us.

I was discussing all this on Wednesday with my lovely friend, Alison and her equally lovely mum. Alison is as besotted with cats as I am, and shares her home with six of them, one of whom has been poorly for the last couple of weeks, so Alison had made an appointment to take her to the vets on Friday morning...and that appointment ended up completely changing my life!

Alison rang me from the vets to tell me that the vet herself had found an abandoned kitten who now needed a home. He was a gorgeous, tiny tabby and was probably only five or six weeks old. Hmmm...was I saying something about being given a sign? It really couldn't have been any clearer, could it?

Needless to say, Mike and I didn't hesitate and Alison brought him to us straight from the vets. To say we fell instantly in love with him would be an understatement, but our feelings for him paled into insignificance compared to Bez's. He was over the moon to see his baby brother (who we named Chomsky) and immediately pulled the tiny tot to him to give him a bath. It was like he'd been waiting for him, and they'd known each other for ever...which perhaps they have! They are inseparable and, as I write this, they're cuddled up together on the sofa fast asleep. The jury is still out on Bethany - she is having nothing to do with such silly kitten behaviour, but there has been no hissing and she definitely seems happier in herself.

So, yet again, I am bowled over at the sheer magic of it all; if I hadn't had that very conversation with Alison two days before, and if her beautiful cat, Aura, hadn't been off-colour and needed to go to the very vet who happened to find an abandoned kitten (strangely, right outside our favourite restaurant here on Ibiza where Mike and I had planned to have lunch with a friend the same day as Chomsky was found, but didn't because our friend had to cancel at the last minute), then we would never have even known of his existence. And more to the point, if Mishka hadn't left us when she did, there would be no way that Chomsky would be in our lives right now.

It's like everything was just shunted into place in a way we could never have orchestrated, which leaves me in no doubt that all of this - the heartbreak and the joy - was all absolutely meant to be and reiterates the belief I expressed in my earlier blogs... that no matter what happens, no matter how "bad" things seem at the time, there is always a higher purpose. Everything happens for a reason. Fact.

And if this isn't proof of it, I don't know what is. Believe me, whatever is going on in your life, it's all unfolding perfectly, even if it doesn't seem so at the time. Trust that and keep the faith.

Always.

Be ready for miracles...they are on their way :)

A Mini Tragedy?

Well, it's safe to say that since my last blog, I've been challenged to put my money where my mouth is.

Just eight days after my last post, our beautiful ginger cat, Mishka, died suddenly and unexpectedly. She was just a few days away from her seventh birthday.

Now, what was it I was saying about “no matter how sad, upsetting or 'bad' things are, there is always a reason” and to always “trust in the process, even in the darkest of days...”? Well, you know what, boys and girls? It turns out this is absolutely true!

These have definitely been dark days; nobody could have loved a cat more than I loved Mishka, and I was completely distraught and devastated...as I still am. But through all the tears and the trauma, I really have been keeping the faith...or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that the universe has kept giving me little nudges and reminders that there were still blessings abounding. We'd been given the gift of Bez, our little kitten, just ten days before Mishka died and with a kitten in the house, it's virtually impossible to be sad all the time...he is a true spirit-raiser and the way that our other cat, Bethany, is slowly getting used to him and starting to play with him, has also been a joyful distraction.

I have suspected this for some time, but now am in absolutely no doubt that gratitude is the key to everything. I mean, come on, I'd had the blessing of living with Mishka for nearly seven years, of living with Tez for sixteen years (not to mention the other lovely cats we've loved and lost), and I've still got two gorgeous kitties to share my life with now...that's not all that shabby, is it?

Coincidentally, just a few days before Mishka died, we were watching the late George Carlin do a stand-up show and in it, he talks about the pets that he had lived with over the years. He points out that it's heartbreaking when you lose them, but you've got to expect this when you get a pet. He calls it a mini-tragedy...unless you are an eighty-year old buying a tortoise, the chances are you will outlive your pet.

It's funnier on stage, trust me!! But it's true, it is a mini-tragedy, with the emphasis on mini. I'm still very tearful and upset about Mishka, but when I think of the years of unconditional love, trust and happiness we shared, then I know it was worth it. The fact is, when we love somebody so much, then we make ourselves vulnerable to loss and grief, but remember...there is absolutely no pain that is not balanced by the greater joy of that love.

So, thank you, Mishka – thank you for sharing your life with me, and thank you for all these lessons. Love you always, ginger girl.

Namaste.