Wordless Wednesday – The Reward of Coming in Last Place
Our handsome boy, Zee, contemplating the simple joys of life as he is fascinated by a bug on a leaf. To see the full beauty of this image and quote, please click to enlarge.
You will find that I comment less on facebook and blogs now. I will get emails and politely let someone know that I will get back to them, but not necessarily at this very moment. I am still on my computer all day and night, but I will also walk away from it without guilt, which has not always been easy for me to do in the past. My cats are my Zen and their friendship is my first place prize. So, on this Wordless Wednesday, I ask that you all take a look at this image of Zee enjoying the simple act of spotting a bug on a leaf and look for a small pleasure moment that your cat is sharing with you today. I guarantee that it won’t be hard to do at all and that you will feel all the better for looking for it.
I’m glad you’re taking time to be with Jazz as much as you can. It is challenging to not get consumed by this online world we live in. I now turn the computer off after a certain point in the evening. It’s made evenings more peaceful for me, and lo and behold: nothing bad happens if I don’t check email and Facebook 24?7! 🙂
It is extremely challenging, Ingrid, and that is why I try to remind myself via these posts to unplug sometimes. I have noticed that I see you less on facebook and it is reassuring to know that the world did not end as a result of that!
Great post and something we all need to do – sit back and survey the situation and stop trying to “do it all.” Do the important things and be satisfied that you can’t do it all!!! I’m trying to do the same, and it isn’t working very well. I do hope your kitty gets better – it’s such a sad stage, so enjoy every second together.
LOL mariodacat. I give good advice, but I never said it was easy!! Thank you for your kind words for Jazz.
Goosie-Bumps on the quote. It took me straight away to my favorite “slow down…enjoy the journey” places that I go. You’re awesome Deb!! And yes, do enjoy those beautiful cats, they are a treasure to behold!
Goosebumps back, Susan!! Thank you for the compliment and I am glad you were able to take the quote to heart. 🙂
we wish you all the time in the world…..what a great post and good reminder 🙂
Thank you for the postive thoughts and kind words, Random Felines.
What a beautiful post, Deb. We can all learn so much from our cats!
Enjoy your precious moments with Mr Jazz. They truly teach us what is precious about life.
Thank you so much, Create With Joy. We really can learn so much from our cats and I try my best to listen to what they tell me each and every day!
Deb, would we even be blogging without our cats and those things in life that inspired us in the first place? Yet we lose touch with them in pursuit of other things. It’s good to go back to those beginnings periodically and remember why we do what we do, where winning is, as we know, seeing “the extraordinary in the ordinary”. Having walked this narrowing path with many other cats I’m thinking of you and Mr. Jazz, and we purr that all remains as well with you as possible..
Such a good point, Bernadette. Our cats are an endless source of inspiration, and through them, we bloggers are able to inspire and teach others about them, and that is a very good thing. I certainly don’t want to give up blogging, it is just creating that balance and harmony between both worlds. And yes, the winning really is seeing the “extraordinary in the ordinary” and I thank you for taking my book to heart in that regard! Thank you also for your purrs for Jazz, I do know that you understand my current path very well.
It is hard to imagine anything more special than being in the company of cats. Hugs and Purrs from Fisher and me.
It really is hard to imagine, Fisher, other than having my family and friends with me at the same time as my cats!
jazz…dood…we all ways say we iz knot a loud ta play online on de week oh ends for a reezon….N yur mom eggs plained it prettee well rite heer….
while havin internetz haz opened a hole new werld…for everee one….N it haz brought peepulz two gether in mor ways N one; N we haz made sum total lee awesum friends like ewe N yur familee…
we all sew noe de virtual werld kneads ta bee put a side for de reel werld ….N ree gardless oh which one we iz in…..time spent can never be refunded…
a dood named Frank haz yur back…N we hope ewe iz eatin like ya shuld…even if it iz….burd
XOXOXOXO
da tabbies – there you go again making my eyes all leaky and teary! Thank you so much for this comment – it means the world to me and I know how much you adore Mr. Jazz. Especially since you said it is even okay if he is eating BURD!!!!!! Thank you also for the dood Frank on his back and xoxoxoxoox to all of you!
Such wise words, Miss Deb. We tell the lady with the yellow hair she needs to step away and spend more time with us enjoying the small things in life, too. We hope you have many good days with Jazz.
Island Cats – I know that the lady with the yellow hair is a smart cookie, so I hope she does step away now and then to spend more time with you. Thank you for the kind words for Jazz as well.
I couldn’t agree more. Sending kisses to Jazz……..you know, you rarely ever see me live on Facebook……I changed that LONG ago!
xoxo
I did notice you were not on facebook as much, Caren, and I commend you on your strength!! I am on facebook less now too, and have been spending my computer time playing Majong which I love! It helps center me and I enjoy the mental challenge. Thank you so much for the kisses to Jazz – I will be sure to pass them on! xoxo
Since Mom has been blogging for less than a year, she feels like she needs to post and comment often so that she can make friends for us. But we think you have the right idea. She used to spend more time with us instead of writing about us. But she is happier than she has been in a really long time, which makes us happy. The photo of Zee is so gorgeous. Purrs and hugs from the kitties at The Cat on My Head, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Josette
Kitties Blue – I completely understand about your Mom. When I first started blogging I did the same thing, becasue how else do you get to meet and make so many great friends! I still comment on blogs, but for the most part I like to reserve one day a week for my visits. I also enjoy writing about my cats very much – it’s just a matter of finding the right balance. But right now, my priority is Mr. Jazz!
Wonderful message today, Deb. Such a good reminder about what really matters. We are glad you and Jazz are enjoying that special time together. Hugs to you both.
Thank you meowmeowmans – I figured a lot of people could relate to this message and I am happy to share it! Thank you for the hugs too!
Oh yes!!! I spent hours today totally away from computer, internet etc. I was in the great outdoors and it was wonderful!! That time you spend with your kitties, especially Jazz now, is not time wasted!! xx
I am so happy you had a computer free, great outdoors day, CATachresis! That sounds wonderful! I feel such a connection to Jazz and I know that he feels my love.
What a heartwarming post. I love the photo of Zee. I know what you mean as I have 2 seniors and one is going on 21 now and I know I don’t have much time left.
Oh my goodness, Sue. 21 is quite the journey you have shared with your cat and I know that you truly do understand with your seniors just how precious time is.
I agree that it is very important to spend as much time as possible with our cats. I don’t consider 13 to be very old for a cat, but after Eric leaving us so quickly I worry how long we will be blessed with Flynn’s company. Unless it is pouring with rain, I make sure he gets his walks every day and now Ivor joins us as we walk around the fields together. Flynn and I do the gardening together and during the nice weather we are now having, sometimes we just lie on the grass together.
Flynn – we all miss Eric and his parting only serves to gently remind us to love the gifts that are right in front of us. I am happy to know that you are enjoying gardening and talking walks in the fields with Ivor.
I’m sitting here scratching Truffle’s chin as I’m reading your post. I know what you mean – the older I’m getting, the more I’m realizing that I need to stop and enjoy life. I’m blessed to have wonderful friends, a special family, and two beautiful kitties. I posted on “Hug Your Cat” day that there’s no better tranquilizer than a purring cat and I mean it!
Sweet Purrfections – you are so right about nothing better than a purring cat! Music to my ears!
Sending you lots of big purrs for Jazz. He is very lucky to have a mom like you who loves him so much.
Thank you so much for the purrs, Wildcat. I am lucky as well, Jazz is such a dear boy…
Awwww Auntie Deb, mewz words ring so true and hearing about the ever dapper Mr. Jazz gives me and my Mom super leaky eyes. We empathize with mew deeply as it was this exact time a year ago that my little panther sister Černy suddenly became sick and refused to eat. A visit to the vet revealed she had a large tumor in her jaw, and a biopsy sadly gave us news we prayed would not be: she had squamous cell carcinoma. The vet’s news became worse when she explained there was no cure and surgery wasn’t an option due to the tumor’s placement and size in her jaw. To remove it would leave her with most of her jaw missing on that side and forever at risk of infection. Not knowing how much time we had left with Černy we took her home and decided to hospice her until she let Mom know she was ready for her journey to the Bridge. She was in good spirits then and mewed with hunger, so the next 3 weeks she was tube fed, given round the clock pain meds, and all the love we had for her.
Towards the last few days of the 3rd week, she began to decline fast, needed an increase in pain meds and let Mom know it was time. In early July our vet came to our house to help her make the journey and we were all there to tell her we loved her, how much our lives were made better by having her in our family, the peace and no pain she would have at the Bridge, as well as our fur doggie sisters, kitty and bunny sisters who were waiting to greet her, and how we too would see her again one day. She went peacefully and was wrapped in her favorite blankie to be cremated in. Her cremains, snazzy collar and tags are kept in her elegant black urn alongside a framed photo in a place of honor on Mom’s shelf, next to many of our other fur sibs who have left us.
This time mew spend with Mr. Jazz is precious and mew are doing exactly what mew should- to do anything differently would just end up in feelings of sadness and regret. There were some ignorant relatives and ‘furiends’ we have who made hurtful and callous comments to Mom asking why she was ‘wasting time, sleep, energy’ by tube feeding Černy for those 3 weeks when we knew she was ‘just gonna die anyway’?! Not to mention the $MONEY$!!!! ‘Why not just put her to sleep? Why torture yourself? The cat?’ ‘Yeah it’s too bad and sad, but it’s only a CAT after all..’ Mom has no regrets and in fact is grateful she stuck to her instinct and knowledge of how to read her baby she knew and loved for 10 years. She would never had done so if she felt Černy was suffering, and worked with the vet and much help from who we found to be true family members and friends to make sure her pain management was on a strict schedule and when it came time to be at a hospice level, made arrangements for the vet to come for her final journey.
Don’t ever feel a need to apologize or explain your absence online or choices mew make concerning Jazz in his final time here with us, these are moments mew will forever cherish. My Mom says those weeks we spent with Černy although sad, were bittersweet in that we were able to truly show her how much she meant to us, how high esteemed she was as a family member while we nursed and comforted her. For all she had given us in the ten years we had together, it was an honor to care for her. In those last days, we learned so much about compassion, love, and bravery. Černy knew her time was brief and like mew said, each day we spent together was a gift and she showed us her gratitude by continuing to purr, roll around and demand neck and chin scritches until the day before she made her final journey. I know this time together meant as much to her as it did us, and mew can be comforted in knowing this will be the same for mew and Jazz. He knows a Mother’s love and feels a fur son’s love for mew.
Ms. Phoebe – I am just overwhelmed by your kind words of love and support and am so blessed to have such a wonderful community of cat loving friends that are part of my life. I am sorry for your loss – I am sure you still miss Cerny dearly, but it gives me comfort knowing just how much you loved her and did your best to make her last days with you as comfortable as possible. All of us in the pet community have either gone through this, or will at some point in the future, and it is never easy for any of us. We all have to deal with it in our own personal ways and I truly appreciate you understanding my need to back away from my online presence.
Hugs and purrs to you and yours…
Deb…I wondered how/why I missed this yesterday….now I know…I would have full blown boo hoo’d…but today, there are just peaceful tears. I’m so sorry to hear Mr. Jazz is not doing well…there are no words.
I’ll be thinking about you and you know where I am if you need me ♥
Thank you Toni – I appreciate your kindness and it gives me comfort to know you are thinking of us..x xoxoxo
Yep, some things are just more important. xxx
Absolutely, RumpyDog! Especially dog cookies!! xoxo