RUDY 1987-June 9, 2006 - My Sister's Queen Cat

My sister Pat's oldest cat, Rudy, died on Friday night at 11:55 pm. Pat was stroking her fur.

She had been getting progressively sicker: not eating, and then not drinking. So she took herself to her favourite spot (the top of the old clothes dryer in the basement) and rested on a blanket. Pat kept a tea-light burning and kept the light off. As she was replacing the tealight, she found one that was already partly burned down - and then thought that perhaps Rudy would go out with the candle. So she found a full one. Sure enough - when Rudy drew her second-last, deep breath, the candle sputtered, then went out before the last breath.

Pat called Rudy her "Grief-less cat" - no messes, no getting caught in cat-traps, no dead birds or rodents on the doorstep.

My Daisy passed away last year and was also the "Queen Cat" of our house.

Here's to Queen Cats and Cat Lovers everwhere.

Spring Rain

Wonderful for the garden, but the rain on the weekend keeps us inside.
Today, we experimented with photos, hung up the ribbon spool holder Mike made me, and a number of black and white photographs. I usually hate pictures of myself, and am always making a face. However, by using artistic filters in Adobe, I don't look quite so static, wrinkled or pudgy. I have not coloured my hair since March of 2005, and really like it. It's more me.

At work, there have been many changes. Our Deputy Minister left last week, and we now have a part-time one. Since the Directors General are also relatively new and from organizations that are not exactly people-oriented, it has been an uphill battle against varying degrees of depersonalization of operations and some outright disrespect for us "touchy-feely crap" types (their perception). It is difficult to maintain the equilibrium and compassion necessary for the work. I have not been affected as deeply as some, but then, I've been around a long time. I was re-engergized somewhat this week by attending the resumption of the United Church-initiated Roundtable on Truth and Reconciliation. It helped me refocus and remember what it's all about.

Mike continues to be healthy. His PSA count after radiation was about the same as it was 3 months before treatment began. We were depressed about that until Mike did a graph of his PSA counts over the past year. They had been on a steady rise, and had started to climb more steeply. However, the counts plateaued from October of 2005 to March of 2006. The radiation oncologist told him that prostate cancer grows very slowly, and that after radiation, the cancer cells don't die until they try to divide. That interruption in their growth appears to mean that the radiation targeted the right area and had some effect. His next PSA test is scheduled for July.

On the May long weekend, we planted a lot of perennials. Nowadays, it takes me a week to recover! But they have all taken very nicely, even the seeds and the root of astilbe. We planted more lilacs across the back, peonies, bleeding heart, hollyhocks, delphiniums, foxglove, cosmos, morning glories, day lilies, columbine, sweet peas, portulaca, phlox and baby blue eyes. There were already some lilacs and lily of the valley. My lilacs were glorious while they lasted - and I cut many for vases around the house. The scent was nostalgic.