game playing. Fig is an exceptional companion in that regard. Even during periods when I had extensive business travel, he never gave me the cold shoulder when I returned home, but was always genuinely glad to see me. He enjoys meeting new people and is not one to hide under the bed when company comes calling. His early experience of being abandoned by his first owner didn't make him bitter and mistrustful of people; he is always ready to forgive and forget. He asks for what he wants, as best he can with his body language and silent meows, with perfect trust that I will provide it. There is something immensely calming about living with a being who takes each day as it comes, with no worries about the future, no need to prove himself, just an unapologetic ability to enjoy the simple pleasures of life - sleeping in a sunny spot, eating favorite foods, watching the world from his perch, and having his cheeks rubbed. Obviously life is more complicated for humans, but still we have much to learn from our four-legged companions.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
The School of Fig
What is it about bonding with animals that makes us more human? Do they teach us by example? I've lived with pets all of my life, and save for one german shepherd who used to slink off the sofa with averted eyes and guilty posture every morning, I have been struck by their authenticity and capacity for returning love without 
game playing. Fig is an exceptional companion in that regard. Even during periods when I had extensive business travel, he never gave me the cold shoulder when I returned home, but was always genuinely glad to see me. He enjoys meeting new people and is not one to hide under the bed when company comes calling. His early experience of being abandoned by his first owner didn't make him bitter and mistrustful of people; he is always ready to forgive and forget. He asks for what he wants, as best he can with his body language and silent meows, with perfect trust that I will provide it. There is something immensely calming about living with a being who takes each day as it comes, with no worries about the future, no need to prove himself, just an unapologetic ability to enjoy the simple pleasures of life - sleeping in a sunny spot, eating favorite foods, watching the world from his perch, and having his cheeks rubbed. Obviously life is more complicated for humans, but still we have much to learn from our four-legged companions.
game playing. Fig is an exceptional companion in that regard. Even during periods when I had extensive business travel, he never gave me the cold shoulder when I returned home, but was always genuinely glad to see me. He enjoys meeting new people and is not one to hide under the bed when company comes calling. His early experience of being abandoned by his first owner didn't make him bitter and mistrustful of people; he is always ready to forgive and forget. He asks for what he wants, as best he can with his body language and silent meows, with perfect trust that I will provide it. There is something immensely calming about living with a being who takes each day as it comes, with no worries about the future, no need to prove himself, just an unapologetic ability to enjoy the simple pleasures of life - sleeping in a sunny spot, eating favorite foods, watching the world from his perch, and having his cheeks rubbed. Obviously life is more complicated for humans, but still we have much to learn from our four-legged companions.
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Presto made me a better person. He originally favored my husband, who kept shrugging him off. One day, as Presto rested beside me in the early morning as I wrote in my journal, I put my hand on his stomach, and I told him, "I will love you forever, and I promise you that I will always care for you." I prayed silently for us to be joined--for him to be like a familiar to me. From then on, strangely, he was my cat. He started to follow me around the house. He laid beside me or on me when I was sick, never leaving my side. He sang "You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman" with me while I was in the bathtub. His was the voice I heard as I walked up toward the front door at the day's end. He was always there to greet me. When I learned that he had cancer, I was angry. Why couldn't it be one of the other cats? Why this, my special friend? Presto reminded me of James Bond. He was black, sleek, sexy. I thought that, if he were a human, I'd have a terrible crush on him. He would look into my eyes with great depth and intelligence--sometimes so intensely, it was as if he could read my thoughts. I am glad that I didn't subject him to the hospitalization that would have been required for his chemotherapy. He lived a few months after he was diagnosed. It crushed me to watch him deterioriate. We tried acupuncture treatments, but stopped after two, because they irritated him. It put money in the vet's pocket, though. Presto lost weight, he slept a lot, he couldn't jump up on the furniture anymore, and then he started wobbling when he walked. Still, I felt that joy of being with him as we cuddled together. It was sad to see him deteriorate to the point of wobbling, since he had been such an amazing athlete--able to jump over my 5'6" head. Presto died while I was leading a women's group meeting about witches. I knew when he died, because I felt incredible joy. I told my husband, on the way home, that we'd find Presto dead, and when we arrived, there he was, at the foot of my recliner, dead. I buried him that night. I knew that he had gone on, having sloughed off his pain-filled body. My husband heard him meowing as I closed the front door on my way out to work the next day. He thought nothing of this, since Presto usually meowed at the front door for me. He then realized that Presto was dead, but he was sure that it was Presto's voice. I know that Presto went on into time, and that he will be there, like a true familiar, to escort me into the spiritual world when I die. I will always love Presto. I loved him deeply and completely, and I still love him. I always will.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your story. The bond that can develop between a person and an animal is an amazing gift. I am so glad that you had that with Presto. Those kind of relationships are transformative.
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