Dear Jack,
My first cat lived to be 23. It feels so unfair that my girl only made it to 13. It’s like we were cheated out of a decade.
I was “supposed” to live longer too, but I left at the perfect time for me. Except for the last few days, I never attempted something and couldn’t achieve it. My body never failed me, even on the steep trails of the mesa. I am so grateful for my life on Earth, that I could live it to the fullest, with her at my side, until my last breath! The most important thing is that we had each other. Whether it was for a year or a decade, or more or less, it was a gift of time for both of us.
Meanwhile, she says that I left too soon. She felt she had been swindled out of the three, four, five or more years she had planned on sharing with me. The biggest disappointments in life come from having expectations that life will be a certain way and then finding out it isn’t. She knew all along that she’d outlive me, for humans usually do, yet she was acting as if she thought I would live on the earth with her forever. “Why,” she would spurt, “Why? Why did you have to leave me so soon?”
You seem to forget that the sun must set. You knew perfectly well that I would not be with you long enough. Still, you weep and cry and ask God ‘Why’ as if it were some kind of surprise. Why? Because love changes everything. Love’s the surprise.
Only Gone from Your Sight
The most important thing you can do is to focus on the gift of love you have given each other on this earth regardless of how many years you have shared. Be thankful for the quality of life you’ve experienced. It is a gift and it waits for you to be reunited in the right time, the right way. Just keep going. Keep growing. You’re going to make it.
Love, Jack
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