Aroo's Exit

no pictures tonight

only fleeting mental images

Aroo bounding through endless fields, rolling and sniffing...reunited with cat family...free of mortal constraints

free to be the true cat spirit he is

he was ailing for some time, rebounding some...then slipping back.

each time rebounding a little less, slipping a little more, til he retreated under the bed. there he waited for his cat nurses to be with him. he wanted to pass with company. i know i shouldn't anthropomorphize, but this time it is true--there were witnesses. he did not want us to let go of him. when we dared, he would lift his weary head and give us a quick look as if to say "where do you think you're going?!" and we quickly returned.

under the bed he received some very gentle touches and slides along his torso, behind his neck, on his ears. the places we knew he liked. and some reiki--even friends sending long-disatnce reiki. in the not too distant past he would sometimes be energized to go eat.  tonight was very different. he was already leaving when we got there.

we meditated.

we researched online the choices of euthenasia verses dying naturally at home.

we discussed.

we knew he hated going outside. and he was so frail. he knew he wasn't going, we were to discover that. we thanked him for being a loving, demanding, stubborn and gregarious friend. never an aggressive bone in his body. always a lot to say.

i can't write anymore tonight. it hurts. at the end we laid him on his roommate's (otherwise known as "his human's") lap. we all touched him as he took his last breaths. ellen saw his spirit spring out.

thank you, Aroo, for sharing so much love down to the last second

we will always love you