A friend send me this video and as I watched it, I got choked up! Then I began to think to myself, "why didn't I think of this?"
It makes me think of the happy dance we'll be doing when the earth is finally rid of sickness, death, pain, tears and sorrow! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did...
http://www.minnpost.com/stories/2008/06/27/2396/dancing_with_the_universe
It seems that I am not very good at keeping a Blog. The things that make me want to Blog are usually sad. I'm going to change that but I first have to tell about my worst day in many, many years.
Saturday, June 21, 2008. At about 2 pm. My beloved Kitty Onyx suffered what seemed to be a stroke. I heard a heartbreaking cry and she was dangling by her little claws from the kitchen ottoman. I immediately noticed there was a puddle of urine on the rug. Very uncharacteristic of her. I released her claws and she fell to the floor. I noticed she could not pick herself up on her right side. In my mind I knew. This is it, the day I knew would come.
I had been preparing myself for this the past few years. Onyx was born in October of 1989 and this was her 19th year of life. She had been getting very skinny and arthritis had set in. The end was coming as much as I wanted to deny it. I had hoped she'd be able to shrug this off. I gave her a few minutes to try to get herself up. Every time she tried, she cried and looked at me as if to say, "Mommy, help me!" She was trying to get to the litter box I suspect. I scooped her up into my arms and yelled for Richard who was in the back yard building a slab for the fire pit. We knew what we had to do.
Of course this happened on a Saturday after 12 noon so that meant we had to go to the Vet Hospital in Tinton Falls. Mom, Richard and I got in the van and off we went. Poor Ony just layed on my lap on her blankie and stared at me. Half way there she pooped, I suspect she lost control because she didn't even flinch while she did it. All I could think was.."this is it Simmy, keep it together!"
We got to the vet and waited a short time. The vet came in and confirmed that is probably was a stroke. She wanted to keep her over the weekend to run tests and possibly see the neuro doc on Monday. I began to panic! I was not leaving my baby there alone to possibly die over the weekend. Since the day we met, I'd promised myself and Onyx that when it was her time to leave me, she would do so peacefully and in my arms! The decision was made just to let them do blood work and an X-Ray and take it from there.
We left her there for the tests. I couldn't breath, think or sit still. I threw myself to the floor of my bedroom and cried my eyes out. Clouie, our other kitty, would not come near me, she knew something was wrong. I realized that this was truly the day I had dreaded for years and I had to get it together. I made my mind up how it was going to go. All I needed was to know if she would recover or if it was hopeless and time to let her go.
About an hour later the phone rang. Richard answered it. He began to cry and I knew what had to be done. The X-Ray showed she has large masses in her chest and next to her liver. Onyx had cancer. Back in the van, this time with Pops with us, we drove to Tinton Falls to say goodbye to my best friend.
As went down the road I looked back at my life with this beautiful creature. It began when my dog, Oreo, managed to escape from the house back in Clearwater. We went to the pound to find her and in the process found a kitty for mom. That kitty got sick and died almost immediately, a sad story in itself. So we IMMEDIATELY set out to find another kitty.
We went to the Humane Society in Clearwater and entered the "Cat House". Inside there were cages with kitty's meowing like crazy but this one cage was quiet. I kneeled down and there she was, this little 4 month old long haired black and white kitten. She was laying in the back of the cage just looking at me very quietly. Immediately I opened the cage and swooped her into my arms. She turned over onto her back, gave me a little "mow!" and began to purrrrr. We later named it Diesel Engine purrrs because of how deep and loud it was! Well, that was it! Love at first sight for both of us. I yelled over to mom, "I found the kitty!" Mom 
instantly knew this was the one. So Onyx actually started out as Mom's Kitty, but that was not going to last. She was mine from day one! Eventually Mom had to move and her new landlord did not permit animals so I kept Onyx.
Every day "Waja" (pronounced Waa-jaa. Formal name: Waja D. Wabbit) would wait for Onyx at the back door of the house and when I let her out, they would run off and play. Little did I know that the neighbor's would see them and watch in amazement.
When Onyx got tired of Waja, she would climb a tree and take a nap. He would wait patiently at the foot of the tree and hop around. All I had to do is call "Ooooonyx!" and she would come running home. Waja would stay in the backyard and look for her sitting in the window. When he spotted her, he'd sit and stare at her for as long as she sat in the window. It was the cutest and most remarkable thing I'd ever seen!
My dog, Oreo, took to Onyx very quickly. Onyx took great delight in teasing Oreo every chance she got. We had a glass coffee table that Oreo used to snooze under. Onyx would jump on top of the table, reach down and swat Oreo in the head and retract her paw quickly. Oreo would wake up and look left and then right to see who had swatted her. She never figured it out! Onyx would look very pleased with herself after that! LOL!
When I was single, I lived with my mother, brother and Uncle. Onyx and Oreo came with me of course. Because of the dog, I had to keep her food off of the floor so I opted to have it on my night stand with her water. She was very protective of her food, especially when it came to my brother David. As soon as she saw him coming, she would run to her food as if she were guarding it. Even if she was down the hall, if she saw David even going near my room, she would make a beeline for that food bowl!
Poor Onyx had to endure my 6 month stay in England. Mom and David said that she would only go into my room to eat the entire time I was gone. Not having her with me was the worst part of being in England. I missed her everyday! She missed me too as I was told that she looked for me everyday.
The next phase of Onyx' life that I thought about was when Richard came into it. Oreo died shortly after I met Richard and that left Onyx as my only "child". I lived in one bedroom condo and Onyx and I would sleep close together each night. Neither one of us was used to being all alone! We had a routine. She would jump on the nightstand (probably from having her food bowl there while living at Mom's house). I'd give her a treat, then she would snuggle next to me and go to sleep. This got disrupted a little when Richard and I got married and she let me know she was not happy to have the "person" in the house. It took me a while to realize she just wanted to sleep with me the way we always had. (Duh Simmy!)
Onyx loved her toys and she would take them out of her bed (that she never slept in!) and leave them all over the house. Just when we were falling asleep at night, she would take her "tuna dump" in the cat box and then grab her favorite toy (a knitted bag made of Icelandic wool with catnip in it which I called her "baby") and howl with it in her mouth and bring it to me at the side of my bed.
Onyx, queen of the kitty's. She protected Clouie from everything. Mom and Dad's cats treated her with respect when we all moved in together. There was something regal about her. And she knew it! LOL!
These were just a few things that went through my head while driving to the Animal Hospital. But then, we arrived. My heart was in my throat. It took FOREVER for them to bring us into the room. It took FOREVER for them to bring Onyx in. And then, there she was. Wrapped in a blanket. I scooped her up and held her like a baby just like I did the first time we met. She looked up at me, gave me a "mee-att" and started to purrr. We gave her treats and let her smell her "baby". I talked to her and sang her the repatwar of things I've said to her and called her through the years. "Missy Goldie Hawn, Missy Kitty!" "Oniffonator!" "Keirtons!"...and the list goes on.
As I talked to her, the diesel engine purrrs started. Everyone in the room could hear it. Rich began to lose it a little and so did mom. I kept it together with surprising poise. Then she started to fall asleep. I'd exhausted all of my songs and sayings. She ate to her hearts content. She was in the arms of her "mommy" and she was happy. I didn't know what to do. It was time. Time to say good bye. Time to let her rest and not let her suffer anymore.
The doc was great. She explained everything in detail so there would be no surprises. As she gave Ony the shot, I said, "I love you Onyx.." and she was gone...
I miss her everyday and I think I always will. But life must go on and there are other wonderful kitty's that need love. Out of all of Jehovah God's creations, the cat big and small is my favorite. Ony will always be "my baby"!
Viva La Onyx! My little "niff"...
