Family Discussions

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Tiger

Tiger is a handsome male yellow-stripped tabby cat. He was born into strange circumstances. His mother, Sprite, was barely over one and a half year old when she gave birth. There was another female cat just over two years old, named Camo. She was a rescue calico. Both Sprite and Camo were visited by Tiger’s dad, the same time, gave birth the same moment in the same bed, face to face!

From the time he was a little kitten, Tiger would stand on my feet every time I walked outdoors. This continued through the nine months he was with us. One day he climbed into a lawn chair and slapped one of our donkeys on the nose for being a bit too close. Brave!

I got such pleasure from watching Tiger and Sprite romp, run, play fight, and climb trees. Sprite taught Tiger how to jump from limb to limb like the squirrels. And Camo taught him how to climb backward down a tree and how to catch grasshoppers.

Tiger had the skills of climbing, running, defending himself, and hunting by the time he decided to do what tomcats do and go roaming. He left the day before the last season’s freeze! How was he to know the weather would be so bad. Then for the next few weeks, the spring rains were fairly constant.

I imagined Tiger in the forest and being cold, wet, and hungry as he explored. I hoped he had dry places to res and food and water to sustain him. I feared local coyotes and bobcats would kill him, or some person who did not like cats would harm him. Week after week I tried to console myself and say “things are as they should be” as he is doing what tomcats do. Finally, I must accept my loss and let him go. This is sort of like when parents let their children go after high school graduation. The words of William Blake in one of his poems help a little: “He who binds himself to joy does the winged life destroy. He who kisses the joy as it flies lives in Eternity’s sunrise.”

Discussion: What does William Blake mean about destroying the winged life if one tries to bind it? Does binding oneself to a joy have negative repercussions for the one doing the “binding”? When does grieving for a pet cease? Does it eve cease? How can you help yourself deal with the loss of a pet? How can one deal with loss of loved ones?