MEOW

At first, I thought I should say some things about Ted Kennedy. But, after watching TV last evening with Barbara, I realized I had very little to add. It is enough to say that it is an enormous loss and that I believe the Health Care Initiative would not be on life support if he had been around these past months.

Then I realized we lost someone else yesterday. Someone more personal that a lot of you knew. When Jessica went off to Ann Arbor, her really wise parents decided she needed to be "replaced" so that her loss would not traumatize Anna too much. So the four of us went to a house (I think on Tappan Street in Brookline) to look at a litter of cats. One of them had hair sticking up all over the place and was obviously Spike. Or after some thought he became Spike. Ironically, and quite sadly, the cat's owner had just dealt with the death of his own adolescent son in an unspeakable accident. So his loss was much different/more permanent than ours.

Well yesterday, Spike was put to sleep by his step parents Eve and Steve. He was, as close as we can figure, nearly, or a bit more, than 19. It is virtually the same time of year that we got him since it was just before Jessica's trip to college. Anna was his wonderful "parent"/companion. She was never quite sure if his "grandparents"(that would be me and Barbara)shared her intense love of Spike and even had some questions when she took her Midwest college adventure if we could adequately provide for Spike. We convinced her we were up to the task. Anna was truly his advocate/guardian/companion--though I was Spike's medical assistant and litter box manager. Barbara worried about Spike much like she worries about the rest of us.

The other two people who were central to Spike's life were Eve and Steve. When Jessica moved home from Germany, Spike went to live in the suburbs with them because Jess and Steffen were allergic to him. Lilli loved to visit him down there in Canton though, unlike the rest of us, he showed very little interest in her. Steve and Eve were worthy foster parents and certainly reached the high standards expected by Anna (which she was never/ever quite sure Barbara and I met). They loved him and helped him and had to deal with these last months when he was really failing.

So, in some crazy way, we will connect Spike's death to the death of Ted Kennedy. Spike's loss was as expected as Kennedy's. I find myself wondering if even comparing the loss of a cat to the loss of a person is fair--truth be told (sorry, Anna)it surprises me that I am even feeling Spike's loss so intensely. I do believe Anna,Steve, and Eve have lost someone close and special in a far more intimate manner than the loss of Ted Kennedy. Spike was truly special to them; but they were very special in their treatment of him as well. A sad day all around.

Sayonara