We lost our wonderful little tuxedo cat to the angels a month ago, just a few weeks short of her 16th birthday. She had been ill for 8 months so it was no surprise when the end came and she had to be euthanized. Fortunately she gave us much quality time right up until the end.
I have had a number of cats in my household over my lifetime but this is the first time I was ever with one of them when the end came. I thought I had been doing better as more time passed but that is turning out not to be the case. I’ve been having some days better than others but even though I’ve felt as if I am starting to pass through a doorway in regards to her, there are still some extremely difficult moments.
I chose to have her privately and individually cremated at a wonderful pet loss facility in an apple orchard in the mountains near the Pennsylvania state line, some of my favorite countryside. I have just recently received her ashes back in a beautiful dark cherry wooden box and which was enclosed in a dark green velvet bag. I have the box prominently displayed on a cabinet in my living room and am ordering special furniture wax developed in the United Kingdom to protect the Royal Antiques. I will be using it to polish up the box and protect the finish really well.
I also received a beautiful certificate of cremation with the box, signed by the person who cremated her and containing the following poem which I found both heartbreaking and reassuring at the same time:
“Farewell, Master, yet not farewell
Where I am now, ye too shall dwell
I am gone, before your face,
A moment’s time, a little space.
When ye come, where I have stepped
Ye will wonder why ye wept.”
By Edwin Arnold
I have had a number of cats in my household over my lifetime but this is the first time I was ever with one of them when the end came. I thought I had been doing better as more time passed but that is turning out not to be the case. I’ve been having some days better than others but even though I’ve felt as if I am starting to pass through a doorway in regards to her, there are still some extremely difficult moments.
I chose to have her privately and individually cremated at a wonderful pet loss facility in an apple orchard in the mountains near the Pennsylvania state line, some of my favorite countryside. I have just recently received her ashes back in a beautiful dark cherry wooden box and which was enclosed in a dark green velvet bag. I have the box prominently displayed on a cabinet in my living room and am ordering special furniture wax developed in the United Kingdom to protect the Royal Antiques. I will be using it to polish up the box and protect the finish really well.
I also received a beautiful certificate of cremation with the box, signed by the person who cremated her and containing the following poem which I found both heartbreaking and reassuring at the same time:
“Farewell, Master, yet not farewell
Where I am now, ye too shall dwell
I am gone, before your face,
A moment’s time, a little space.
When ye come, where I have stepped
Ye will wonder why ye wept.”
By Edwin Arnold