My Heart Broke...

Namaste,

Two and a half years ago just after I moved to Florida I decided that I wanted to get a cat. I found a great house to live in and wanted someone to greet me when I came home.

A woman I knew who loved cats mentioned that she was looking for a home for a cat that was going to be brought to the kill shelter. I went to go see the cat and immediately knew we were going to become family. He was unfriendly and very standoffish. His behavior did not deter me. I knew he wasn’t being cared for very well and was confident I could give him a wonderful loving environment.

I adopted Isaac and happily brought him to his new home. He wasn’t very thrilled. And why should he be. A stranger takes him from his home and now he is in a unfamiliar surroundings.

He hid under the bed for a few days and for two months he moaned and cried all night long. I was totally deprived of sleep. It was like having a baby. This I did not sign up for. My patience was decreasing and I was cranky with so much interrupted sleep. He kept to himself and did not like the affection I was sending his way. I knew it would take time for him to adjust but after two months of listening to a deep cry all night, I had to do something. I picked him up and we had our first heart to heart conversation.

I looked him straight in the eye and said, “you have to stop all this noise. I am losing sleep and I can’t take it anymore. I am going to give you lots of love and affection but you need to behave. You are safe here and this is where you are supposed to be. If you are going to continue to cry all night I will have to give you up.’’

This may have not been the sweetest thing to say but I was being real. When I brought him home the previous owner never told me he is going to moan deeply all night. Well, what I said got through to his cat brain, he completely stopped making all the noise. I was so relieved as I didn’t have the heart to give him up.

I renamed him Moonlight. Before I got him the name floated into my thoughts and it felt right when we met he have this new name. At first he ignored me every time I called him by this but eventually he came around and would respond.

He was beautiful Persian tabby cat, with big green eyes. He had fluffy long grey fur and became the king of my household. I was determined to make Moonlight an affectionate cat. Over time he opened up to my love and gradually came  to adore my loving gestures. Within seven months, he had a totally different personality that when I had got him.

He loved to sleep right next to me, waking me early when he wanted to get up but when I wouldn’t respond he would lie back down and go to sleep again. He was moody and very jealous of people who came over. He was spiritually intuitive and didn’t warm up to everyone.

If you had good energy, he may let you pet him and if he sensed other things about you, he stayed away. He love to go outside and lie on the couch, he enjoyed the freedom he had to stroll around the neighborhood mingling with the other cats and being adventurous and independent. He never went far and came when I intuitively called him to come home.

Moonlight continued  loving me more and opening up to me.  An animal's love is so unconditional. He hated me going away, and every time I came home would punish me by not sleeping next to me for a few nights.

I later learned that he was actually six years old when I adopted him. It didn’t matter to me. He looked younger and was is good health. I just assumed  he would be with me for a very long time. He became my best friend and greatest companion. He gave unconditional love. In the past year he got so used to me picking him up and giving him hugs and little kisses, he would talk to me if I came home and neglected to do so. He would get up with me every morning and follow me around the house and before I even got my key in the door I would hear him meowing in excitement of my arrival home.

After experiencing what it is like to have a cat, I finally understood how people love their animals so much.

Moonlight got very sick, quickly and I brought him to the vet. He was very dehydrated and had kidney failure.  He was so lethargic and had stopped eating and wasn’t himself at all. The vet let me take him home after four days and I was optimistic that he was going to be just fine.

Two days later we were back at the vet. He was much worse and they did an ultrasound. He had 80% kidney failure. The vet was hopeful at trying to save him and turn this around. I went to see him that same day I dropped him off. I intuitively knew he was at the end of his road. He was so skinny and weak. I held him for an hour and talked to him letting him know I needed him. He was my angel. I was hopeful that he would make a turn around. I looked at him right in his gorgeous green eyes and I know he heard me.

I kissed him on his little lips like I always would……he gave me a wink with his left eye. He would do that often when I talked to him. I did not want to leave him at the vet but it was the best thing for him. He needed fluids.

The next day on thanksgiving morning , Moonlight entered the spirit world. I miss him with all my heart.

The past few weeks have been difficult and I have drawn inward. I wanted to tell you all about him as he was so special and such a blessing in my life. It feels lonely when I come home. I have had two dreams about him and he is happy and playful. We had a great few years together and I feel good that I was able to give him a loving home for the last few years of his life.

I think he is dancing with the stars in the night and is now one on my higher angels.

My neighbor wrote out this wonderful quote for me.

For Moonlight

I put down my book, The meaning of Zen,

And see the cat smiling into his fur

As he delicately combs it with his rough pink tongue.

Cat, I would lend you this book to study

But it appears you have already read it.

He looks up and gives me his full gaze.

Don’t be ridiculous, he purrs, I wrote it.”

-from “Miao” by Dilys Lain

As my friend would always tell me…..”life is Beautiful.”

We don’t know how long we are on this planet for or when it will be our time ….. there is love, beauty and joy in every moment. Life is short, each moment has meaning, live with surrender, acceptance, bliss and be in this moment NOW!

With love,

Sara

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Hey this is Harlan and today I want to tell you in January I'm going to be in yoga withdrawal because Sara and Valerie my yoginis are heading down to Costa Rica to join Wah! in a chanting & yoga retreat.

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