In Memory of a Fiesty Girl...

Boozie: Warrior Princess!

"As sand passes through the hourglass, so goes the days of our lives." Those are true words. Time and therefore life, passes oh so quickly. I can't believe today makes three years since we lost our dear Boozie.

Boozie was a very confident cat, self-assured and unafraid. She was an old-timer on the block. I remember once when she was in the yard and a stray cat passed by. Boozie ran out and confronted the cat. The stray bowed down and submitted to Boozie. I couldn't believe my eyes! Lol...That was my girl...

I can't count the times I held her in my arms and hugged and kissed her as I told her I would never forget her. Today's post is part of keeping that promise.

I have to let the world know that Boozie was here.

And she was loved.

Boozie: A bright light in our life.

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close...some thoughts...

As soon as I saw the preview trailer in the theater for this movie, I wanted to see it when it came out. I began to read reviews in the paper to see what people thought of it and was surprised to see really snarky comments. There were things like it's trying so hard to be an Oscar contender, it's overly sentimental, etc. Sometimes I am influenced by reviews, but I saw coming attractions again and really wanted to check it out, so I did. Here's a description from Warner Bros about what the film is about...

Oskar (Thomas Horn) is convinced that his father (Tom Hanks), who died in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, has left a final message for him hidden somewhere in the city. Feeling disconnected from his grieving mother (Sandra Bullock) and driven by a relentlessly active mind that refuses to believe in things that can't be observed, Oskar begins searching New York City for the lock that fits a mysterious key he found in his father's closet. His journey through the five boroughs takes him beyond his own loss to a greater understanding of the observable world around him.

The film focuses on Oskar as he struggles to process his father's death. Oskar tries to hold on to his father as long as possible by pursuing a journey to discover the lock that fits his father's key. It looks at 9/11 through the eyes of a child that is intimately affected by it. I had no idea the film was based on a novel of the same name by Jonathan Safran Foer.

I thoroughly enjoyed the film. Yes, I understand some of the criticisms about it, but I think people tend to over think things. True they didn't show a lot of the father (Hanks) or the mother (Bullock), but the story was really about the kid and how he dealt with his loss. There were scenes of the child going about his day the morning of the event. It made me think so much of my own experience. I was in NY that day in a school and I remember exactly what room I was in and how I was facing the window when a teacher's assistant received a call from her daughter telling her what was going on. My first thought was: A plane hit the World Trade Center? How could the pilot not see that big building? Then the assistant screamed that another plane hit the second building. I just wasn't processing this. I thought: Didn't that idiot see a plane hit the first building?! After a few seconds, I realized something was very wrong. Watching this film brought me back to that day.

I loved the quirky twists and turns of the film. It's a little lesson in the geography and culture of New York City and the characters that populate the town. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close isn't a perfect film or radically profound, but it is a nice story of a little boy's loss; it makes one think about what it takes to overcome such loss. It will lead you to examine your own and the mortality of others.

What legacy do you want to leave?

Somebody Killed My Baby!!!

I can't believe I have to write this, but I do. Some murderous, psycho, idiot, killed my beautiful Sweetie. My husband found her lying on the ground outside the back door yesterday morning. She usually sits atop the stair railing, meowing loudly when she wants to come in. I wasn't home and when my husband got up at about 6 AM, he looked out the back window as usual to look for her, but didn't see her in her usual spot. When he opened the door to call for her, there she was, lying on the ground. He called me and told me she had a heart attack. He figured it must have happened while she was on the railing and she collapsed.

Sweetie being beautiful

That didn't sound right because we had just had the greatest time with her the night before, laughing, playing and feeding her her favorite meal of fresh crab legs...those crab legs would make Sweetie talk! *sigh*...My cat was not sick! I just posted shots of her on this blog a few weeks ago at her annual vet visit! I told him to examine her more closely. Sure enough, he called me back and told me she had been shot. He found a bullet wound in her back and it went out through her leg. We assume she went out the gate, came into the path of some demon who shot her and she managed to make her way home before dying.                                                                                                  

My husband made a casket for her and made a little cushion out of some of his shirts. He went into my drawer and placed a pair of my socks on her feet. I'm crying so hard now I can barely see, but I'm pressing on...He wanted a little piece of us to go with her. He buried her in the front of the yard where she waited for him everyday to come in from work. My husband cried so hard. He kept saying over and over how she slept on his chest from the time she was a baby. We had her from the time she was born. She would have been 13 years old in April. I always suspected her mothers unexpected death a little over a year and a half ago very suspicious too, but we didn't find any conclusive evidence.

This is so hard for me. Honestly, I thought I was going to go a little crazy. I really loved that cat. She was my baby, I'm telling you. She was such a gentle, timid cat to have died so violently...So, now once again, I have to say good-bye to another one of the sweetest girls, ever, my beautiful Sweetie. We love you so much, my girl and just like your mother, you'll never be forgotten and will remain forever in our hearts...

I'm going to end with the words of God which is the only thing helping me keep it together right now...

And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away--Revelation 21:4

 

 

 

Sweetie's last photo with her mom, Boozie 2 weeks before Boozie's death, 4/21/10

Amen.

Saying good-bye to one of the nicest guys...

Anton, a colleague at work, passed away last week. He was more than a colleague though. He was a dear friend. I've spent the past several days running around getting cards signed, collecting donations in his honor and working with other staff members to put an album together to present to his family. We're planning a luncheon in his honor and inviting his family to attend.

Anton was so well liked. Everyone spoke of what a gentleman he was. He was so kind and friendly. He didn't have the word "no" in his vocabulary. I took this picture of him during a end-of-the-year barbeque our job holds every year. I'm so glad I have it. I want to remember him just this way: smiling and enjoying life. Goodbye Anton. You left us way too soon. We'll never forget you.

In Memory of the Best Girl Ever...My Boozie....

Today makes a year since I lost one of the great loves of my life: my darling cat Boozie. Not a day goes by when I don't think of her. I still cry sometimes. It'll just hit me out of the blue and I find myself in tears, thinking of her. We still don't really know what happened to her. My husband just found her lying in front of the house on this day, last year. I was out of town and he called me crying. I'm crying now just writing this. Boozie and I were both extremely sick several years ago. I, with a form of meningitis and she with lymphoma. We spent weeks together in bed, hardly able to move. I treasure those days I had to comfort her and give her the love and care she deserved. We spent so much money on her medical care, and I don't regret spending a penny of it. She looked like the typical cancer patient with a loss of hair and weight. It became difficult to even pet her because it was like petting a skeleton--all bones.



Boozie helping me "write"my novel



But she bounced back, doing way better than the vet expected. She gained weight and her hair grew back, thick and lush--like the Boozie of old. We asked the vet if it was the Lymphoma that killed her. I doubted that. She was doing too well. The vet doesn't believe so. She felt she may have suffered some kind of trauma, perhaps getting "bumped" by a car. We can't say with certainty because she showed no visible signs of trauma, but the vet said that not unusual with a long haired cat. It could all be internal.

We miss her and love her. I hope I'll see her again one day. The word of God says he'll give you the desires of your heart. Maybe not in this world, but in the new one to come, I hope we'll meet again. That certainly is a desire of my heart.



Last photo of Boozie and daughter Sweetie



I'm grateful we have her daughter, Sweetie. I notice she spends more of her time indoors hanging out with me, filling some of the space, her mother used to occupy. I'm grateful for that. 

We still love you Boozie...and we'll never forget you...bye...for now....



Boozie has a story idea...lol...



I Lost One of the Best Parts of My Life this Week. She was the Sweetest Girl Ever...

One of the great loves of my life, my cat Boozie, died this week. It was so totally unexpected, I still can't believe it happened. I don't even know how it happened. I was out of town and my husband called me. He was crying so hard, I couldn't even understand what he was saying. We had two cats: Boozie and her daughter Sweetie. My husband arrived home from work late. He dashed in the house, put something inside and ran right back out to go to church. As he approached the house on his way back home, he noticed Sweetie acting strangely, standing by the gate. He got out and saw Boozie lying outside the gate, a little off from the house. I asked if she had gotten hit by a car, but he said it didn't appear so. There was no blood or any sign of trauma that he could see.

A little crowd had gathered and someone had laid two sticks across Boozie in the form of a cross. A neighbor said she hadn't noticed anything unusual happening. My husband put Sweetie in the house and buried Boozie in the backyard under a little shelter. He said he didn't want her to get wet. *tears*.

Boozie and I went through a lot together. In 2006, coincidentally, we both became deathly ill and almost died during the same time period, she with lymphoma and me with a virulent strain of bacteria that is associated with meningitis. I couldn't walk or barely move and Boozie was receiving chemo and had a feeding tube . We both lay in bed together, weak and wondering what was to become of us. But God is good and we both pulled through. I still have residual nerve damage and Boozie had to take her pills daily, but we were there for each other and moving forward. My doctor and her vet both said we were lucky to still be alive. I prefer to say we were both blessed.

I was truly surprised at how many people on my job cried when they found out. They've never met her in person, but they certainly know of her. Her picture is posted in my office and everyone knows of her adventures as a squirrel hunter, her love of rotisserie chicken and honey roasted turkey; how she knocks at the door when she wants to come in and her simple love and pleasure of just being near me as she rested and slept. My husband called her my shadow. She followed me everywhere.

Now Sweetie has lost her mother and I've lost a loving and loyal companion. We had Boozie for 12 years. Her first family moved and left her behind, then her next owner died. She had no home when we moved on the block and she made her way over to us. She finally found the love and care she so richly deserved. Life will be a little emptier now. This is a final tribute to her. We love you Boozie. You'll forever be in our hearts. Goodbye...