The times, they are a’changing …the more things
change, the more they stay the same…change is inevitable…
There are a myriad of platitudes and quotes about change. Bottom line…change comes and we don’t like
it.
This was a week of loss -- one small, one not so small— but
both changes I don’t like.
Ollie was a small, brown stuffed dachshund toy. Because I love dachshunds. I had wanted one for years, and would have
one someday. Her name was to be Mrs.
Miniver. Due to a lovely set of odd
circumstances, I came home from a vacation trip with an adorable dachshund
puppy. Not Mrs. Miniver, but Clementine,
a long name for a long dog. Clemmie. I adored Clemmie for 16 years. Therefore, I also have various dachshund momentos: a doorstop, Christmas ornaments, a beach
towel, the Schlitterbahn dachshund “Schatze”
who is wearing an innertube, and Ollie, brown curly fabric with black ribbon
around his neck and a paper tag reading “Ollie.” (I
also have Maggie and Gretchen, two breathing, barking, puddling dachshunds, the
successors to Clemmie.)
I have also been
known through the years as the crazy cat lady.
I had five cats: George, Maude,
Bernice, Fuzzy, Pearl, Violet, Pippi, Spike, Emma, and Emily. Yes, I know that’s more than five, but they
came and went, leaving a different five at a time. Each had his or her set
of stories…the “remember whens.” For the
last two years, there have been only two, Pippi and Emily. Pippi and Violet were garage cats. They had been house cats, but for cat reasons
moved into the garage. They were
roomies. Violet was the feline version of
Oscar the Grouch; she lived to be 16. Pippi was my son’s cat. He moved out.
She didn’t.
I lost Pippi this
week. She was almost 18 years old, a
striped orange tabby with white feet.
There were 18 years of stories. The
time she caught her tail in the candle and we smelled burning fur. The time she peed on Melly’s head because she
was telling us she was sick. Pippi
breaking out of the cardboard cat carrier during the hurricane evacuation and
sitting on top of the other cats in their carriers. Pippi sitting on top of the brick wall,
looking down on us all. Pippi had her own chair in the garage. I bought it especially for her at Target. She watched the world and protected the property. She had grown old and
sick this last year. It didn’t make it any easier.
The next morning, I
found Ollie in the backyard – chewed -- nose and ribbons gone. Manny struck again. I also mourned Ollie. Just a stuffed toy, but memories nonetheless.
People, dogs, cats
and things come into our lives for a reason and a season. Changes happen, but these things leave marks
on our hearts forever. We don’t welcome
change, but we must embrace it and let the memories weave the tapestry of our
lives.
“Things
change. And friends leave. Life doesn't stop for anybody.”
― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower
― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower
