I think I've always loved animals. I've had several cats in my lifetime, but I don't remember ever having one quite like Taz. He's possessive, he "owns" me. He's like a male lion who wants to keep everyone away from his "lioness". There have been times when one of the other cats have come up and sat on my lap. Then Taz comes by and makes such a fuss that the cat has to leave. He has even come up and acted like he was sniffing around and then BIT the "offending" cat on the leg!
Taz and I have a special relationship. He can hardly let me out of his sight and I have to admit that I love the fact that we are so close. And Charlie loves him as much as I do.
Taz has been doing well today. He is eating quite a bit and he is active. VSH called to check on him and we gave them a good report. He was outside on the patio for just a short time today because it was not that warm. This evening we put his pill in a pill pocket and it was so.... not traumatic. Thank you, Uncle Adin!
My dear brother sent me an email today which expressed to me what I have always known about him---he loves animals as much as I do.
He has always been a hunter. I never could understand why people hunted. When I talk to him he talks about a "5 point buck" that he would like to get this season. I listen, but my mind is saying "hope you miss him, Sonny". Sorry, brother, but that's just me.
It makes me think of the time several years ago when we got together at my mom's place. I have two brothers and two sisters and it is not often that we are in one place. When my mom was alive, we had "that" place.
It was in the winter, hunting season, and late in the day. We were out in the yard and I saw a dog walking down the road. It looked like it was lost. I went over to it and saw that it had a collar with an address on it. My nephew said it was a hunting dog that probably got separated from the others. I said "Well, what can we do?" He shrugged. I think he'd seen these dogs before. I went inside, but couldn't stop thinking about the dog. When I went out later to check, he was still there. Everyone was watching TV, so I started making remarks like, "We should try to take that dog home" and "I wonder who he belongs to..." They seemed to be engrossed in whatever they were watching.
I went back outside and the dog was still there. It was almost dark. I asked my nephew if he would help me take the dog home. He said he would go with me. We put the dog in the backseat of my rental car. He definitely was a hunting dog. He filled the car with a heavy dog smell. But, I wanted to get him back home.
We found his home. No one was there, but there were dog pens in the back. We opened the gate and he ran in. I was worried that there was no food, but we left water. My nephew said "He'll be fine."
When I got back to the house, the TV program was over and everyone was having coffee. I was a little petulant I guess because I thought that no one cared about the dog so I didn't really have much to say.
Later, while we were sitting around talking, my brother picked up on my silence. He and I have always been close. He told me that since he hunts, I probably thought he didn't care about animals. I said I was worried about the dog and I thought someone would help me take him home and I didn't think they cared about the dog, but I did.
He told me about the time he was RABBIT hunting. I can't remember exactly how it happened, but he saw a rabbit down in a big hole. He went into the hole. The rabbit was frantically trying to get away. My brother took his jacket off and threw it over the rabbit, picked it up and lifted it out of the hole (probably thinking "I'll get you next time, fair and square!")
I understood. To my brother, hunting is a sport. But, a rabbit trapped in a hole was not sport and that's the way it should be. My brother has never hunted with dogs either because he has never thought of that as hunting.
The email he sent to me today made me realize that he knows how much we love Taz and he knows what we're going through with the chemo. The email was called "Need Washing?".
It was about a little girl and her mom shopping and coming out and it was pouring rain. They waited and then the little girl said "Mom, let's run in the rain".
Mom said "We'll get soaked".
The little girl said "No, we won't. Don't you remember? When you were talking to Daddy about his cancer, you said, ' If God can get us through this, He can get us through anything.'
The mom said "Honey, you are absolutely right. Let's run through the rain. If GOD let's us get wet, well maybe we just need washing."
"Circumstances or people can take away your material possessions, they can take away your money, and they can take away your health. But, no one can ever take away your precious memories...So, don't forget to make time and take the opportunities to make memories everyday."
So, I want to thank you, my dear brother, who I love dearly, for letting me know that you know what we're going through with Taz. And I have all of those memories of me, you and our family.
And we are making memories right now with Taz and we will have those memories forever.
My brother has his own memories I'm sure. There was the little black cat that he loved so much in Key West, FL, Seymour, the cat in San Diego, Sam, the dog in Naples, Italy and now.... "T", the pretty blond boy and "Penny", the pretty little tabby that they have in SC.
Yeah, I got your number, brother!More later.........
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