Cross Posted from Street Prophets
Welcome to Sunday All Day Brunch. This is an open topic thread so help yourself to the goodies and sit a spell and let us know what is new in your life. Today I want to pay tribute to a beloved companion who has crossed the Rainbow Bridge. I write a lot about Pixie who was my Mom’s caregiver as much as I was. However Merlin was my baby from the time he was 4 weeks old and he was my solace in difficult times.
“The creatures that inhabit this earth – be they human beings or animals – are here to contribute, each in its own particular way, to the beauty and prosperity of the world.” Dalai Lama
I have always had cats in my life. They have ranged from a huge orange-gold cat named Zonker who was so arrogant that he thought he was King of the Universe to Casper a pure white laid back cat who would make a typical Hawaiian look hyper to Sasha a cat so friendly he was the mascot for my science fiction convention. One thing I have always known is that in animals you can learn a lot about yourself by your interactions with them. They are not “dumb” as many people think but have an intelligence that sometimes makes humans look like we should wear the mantel of dumb instead.
Merlin came into my life one Mother’s Day. It was one of the only positive things that came out of a disastrous marriage. I had lost my Casper a few weeks earlier and my husband’s friend suggested that he get me a real cat to replace him. Merlin was four weeks old. The mother cat had abandoned the entire litter. He was a gray tabby with huge eyes. When I knew that I could adopt him he looked up at me with those huge eyes and let me know his name was Merlin. Of course the fact that shortly before I got him I had watched the Hallmark special Merlin with Sam Neil and the black on the cat and the green eyes did remind me of one of my favorite actors may have played a part in that.
In the first few months that I had him I had to get rid of fleas and ear mites. Then he came down with pneumonia and I almost lost him. I had told my now ex-husband I was worried about Merlin only to be snapped at and told that worrying was no use the cat would either make it or not. With tender care I managed to pull the kitten through. By that time Merlin was totally convinced I was his real mother and we bonded as mother and child.
Merlin and I made it through a nasty divorce and a move from California to the Midwest. He was still the world’s biggest momma’s boy. He hated the Midwest thunderstorms and cuddled as close to me as he could. When living and caring for my Mom if I was downstairs and he wanted me up with him he would come down and cry until I would come upstairs with him. He sometimes would stand up on his back paws and put his front paws on my rear end and try and push me towards the stairs. It would crack my mother up.
A good part of Merlin’s skittishness came from a week with my now ex when I had come back to see my parents. Sometime during that week this playful kitten became a skittish and scared cat. I don’t know what happened but I had fifteen years of dealing with the consequences. I learned a patience I didn’t know I had when I dealt with one of his scared moods. I learned a forgiveness of my ex because he is truly a sick man. I learned hatred kept inside of oneself only hurts oneself.
My brother called Merlin, Merlin Haggard the country western singer, because Merlin would go into these vocal gymnastics that sounded like a mournful Country Western tune. He would curl his lower lip like Elvis.
Merlin helped me through the death of my Mom and my brother. He tolerated Pixie because my Mom loved her and I love her too. He put up with a 12-hour drive from Indiana to North Carolina and once the catnip took effect was mellow after yelling at me for the first half hour. He put up with the ton of boxes and the months it took me to get the apartment put together. He recognized his old furniture and was happy. He put up with my trips back to Indiana to bury my brother and get the house ready to sell.
Merlin and I got each other through thunderstorms which neither one of us likes. He cuddled next to me at night and purred. He showed me an unconditional love. He lowered my stress level with his love and loud purrs. He would sometimes reach up and pat me on the face. With Merlin I found an unending source of compassion. I learned that I could make a difference and I could heal hurts. I learned how to share since at 17½ pounds this big cat took up a good portion of our twin size bed. I learned that animals could teach us how to be better human beings.
This was my Merlin who crossed the Rainbow Bridge on Wednesday April 10, 2013. He will be waiting on the other side for me. In the meantime the tears continue and I miss him so much.
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