Tribute to an Old Friend

Many weeks have come and gone, and yet there is still no writings on EFY this year. Trust me, they are coming. The weeks have certainly not been without incidents....

On this day, Wednesday of 7-8-09, the Martin family witnessed the end to another era in this now quiet house deep in the swamps of Texas. I personally watched as my good friend of 18 years breathed his last breath today. For quite a while he had been on the decline, suffering blindness and near deafness, as well as labored breathing due to a struggling heart which in turn complicated things for his lungs and that in turn did not supply his brain with enough oxygen to the point where it would go into periods of shut down, leaving him temporarily comatose and always disoriented. As a family, we had decided that it was time.

It's strange how it seems that not too long ago we laid to rest our dear sister, and though this instance we did not say good-bye to an actual family member, it's about as close as you get. Even so, at that time when Ally left us, shortly thereafter we celebrated the birth of new life in my niece Elizabeth, and now we celebrate new life in that great nuisance of a kitten running amuck now. Timing...

Good-bye Fang. You were not the best of cats, but you were the best of friends. I was with you until the very end, and I hope you'll remember that someday when we meet again.