The Kitty
Leo fire power from an unexpected source
Hello everyone. I hope you’re having a great day today. On Tuesday I posted about the Lion’s Gate portal and symbolism surrounding the lion. We shared related stories and feelings connected to these ideas, and explored the meaning and feeling of lion energy. Today August 15, is a celebration and remembrance day of another special Leo lion from our lives. Though she died 10 years ago on October 12, 2014, she is always in our hearts and we remember her dearly. Today is her birthday, and so today’s post is about her, our little warrior, our powerful queen, The Kitty.
So many of you are familiar friends with Cairo, whether knowing her in physical form, or through my mom’s various sharings of her on Substack, Instagram, in her books, etc. My first time ever sharing on Substack was through a guest post on my mom’s page, an obituary elegy to dear Cairo after she died in September 2023.
Here is the post about Cairo if you would like to read it.
As today is the Kitty’s birthday, today is a day to introduce her to you all, as most of you, if not all of you, would not be familiar with her as a member of our family. As mentioned in the above post, Kitty and Cairo lived together in our house, both arriving as small kittens, though the Kitty arrived 4 years earlier. She only lived to be 16, and while Cairo lived a longer life, dying just before her 23rd birthday, Cairo was always the younger one, the runt, the little one, and The Kitty was her older guide, her wise elder, sometimes a bit of a bully, but always her protector and friend.
I have written extensively about The Kitty and her role in my young life, as she was my Christmas gift when I was 11, and remained my dearest confidante til her last breath. I’ve written about meeting her, about our shared childhood together, about growing up and going through the pains of entering adulthood together. I’ve written about her injuries, her sicknesses, her death. Our games together, our secret language, our naps. I wanted to bring this writing to you on today’s post, though somehow in days of searching, I can’t seem to find 1 word of any of this writing. I don’t understand where it disappeared to, but I know it will show up eventually. I tried sitting down over the last couple days to start afresh with this essay of her life and role in mine, though I found my mind was elsewhere and unable to settle into those particular memories. It just isn’t the right time to explore them right now. October 12 will be the 10 year anniversary of her departure from the Earth, and so I have a new date to share about her, some more time to find my previous writings, some more time to ponder what she means to me. Autumn is an important time for pondering these sorts of things, and October is always the particular time of year when I venture deeply inward. That time of year was made for those sort of reflections. I believe the seasons really do offer writers and artists (everyone really) such effortless framework to follow just by the nature of their innate qualities. Autumn for deep reflection and inward exploration as we prepare ourselves, Winter for hunkering down and delving into our projects with breaks for coziness, Spring for another kind of reflection - for transformation and renewal, and Summer for strange snapshots and sporadic moments of wild inspiration to put on the shelf for later.
I didn’t expect to write about anything other than the Kitty today, but this is the nature of her spirit as you will come to know. Unlike Cairo, who is purring and watching us closely from only halfway in another realm, the Kitty is off somewhere on the wildest of adventures, leaping from mountain to mountain, scaling cliffs, teeming through jungles, and fighting off predators twice her size. She probably only stops for rest when she’s pushed herself too far, and in those quiet moments, when everything is still, that’s when sometimes she thinks of us. Always with sweetness, always with love.
So today, in honor of the Kitty, who you’ve just been introduced to now, I would like to ask to be introduced to your feline (or canine, equine, bird, bovine, etc) friend who has departed the world and who meant something to you. So please in the comments share the name and a story about your dear departed friend, and tomorrow I will post a new Chat thread so that you can share pictures and videos, too. The Kitty taught me about inner power, true courage, unconventional friendship, and unconditional love. Please share what your friend taught you about, the lessons and values and nice things you learned together during your shared time.
Thank you all for reading and thank you for sharing your names and stories! I look forward so much to reading about them all, and I look forward this weekend to seeing your photos, too. Sending so much love.
Happy Birthday to the Kitty.
Our Warrior, Our Queen.
Thank you for everything you taught me, for everything you brought to our lives.
We love you.
xoxoxo
The Kitty
August 15, 1998 - October 12, 2014
So happy to see outr dear warrior.
Like the Sun
for my dog, Jack
1987- 2002
There are certain things that are so beautiful,
you half expect them to vanish, like a dream.
They are of this world, but they rule in another.
They have all the features of regular beautiful things,
and they are loved and admired, but there is something else,
another universe just alongside
the one we all seem to be in,
something outside the sphere of regular goings on.
The beautiful things fly by in the wind
around people's heads, changing the world,
connecting everything the way it should be connected,
arranging for joy, making life seem like a wonderful idea,
and acting casually as if it is just a regular day.
But it is never a regular day,
once they have touched it.
They are like light pouring it’s syrup
into every empty space,
rendering it never entirely empty again.
If one of them loves you,
you can never die.
That's how much power they have.
You almost can't look at them directly,
like the sun.