oswald in overtime...

This good-natured tabby companion has travelled down a long road with Lynda and I. We had him (he was maybe six months old...) in 1994 and he ran away and hid while we cheered the Canucks on against the New York Rangers. Over time Oswald came to understand that with the Canucks there is only so much cheering that happens, so he gained a measure of calm and lay on the couch, on his own pillow, between us while the games were on.

He sleeps on his own pink pillow and very unlike a cat comes when he's called to bed. He's been a source of pleasure for nearly seventeen years...

Time is what time is and does what time does. It passes and it brings all the news. The good news, the same old news, and though we hope delivery will be delayed...the bad news arrives. Oswald is real sick. He's had a surgery and he may survive this crisis but the vet has spoken and we are in overtime now.

Lynda and I sat, heavy with grief, last night and we talked about all of this. All of the time and joy and comfort this docile creature has given to us. Oswald; who has survived all of his two litters of kittens, save one I think. Oswald, named by me and after the alleged arrogant assassin of John Kennedy. Don't ask me why. I am an idiot, I guess.

Oswald is anything but arrogant. If you bit him on the nose he would not bite you back. He could not be more gentle. He is irreplaceable and he has taught us that in our lives loving an animal is important. So we'll love another one day, God willing and the river don't rise too quickly. But we'll never love another like we love Oswald, not as long as we live....