A Fond Farewell, In Full Technicolour

 

     Losing a pet is a trauma equal to, sometimes greater than losing a human from your life's circle. People without pets will never comprehend the loss. We grieve more, I think, for animals because our relationships with them are so uncomplicated, so simple. Humans are so complex and we have to come to terms with so many negative emotions - anger, resentment, guilt, bitterness... None of those things are present when an animal dies, just the pain of the void that they leave in our lives - their unconditional love, loyalty, trust, comfort and the joy they bring. 

    To pay tribute is almost an impossible thing as nothing really seems fitting or equal to the task. The only way I know how to express my love and loss is through my art, and, in some way through my words. In drawing a picture to represent Gizmo's journey from this world to his eternal realm, I wanted to reflect the joy that he brought to all of us. Inside, I crumpled and felt only the pain of loss as I have before with other feline companions, but Gizmo was strong - they all have been - and deserved something equal to the value he held for myself and especially for my Husband, for whom he has been a constant friend these past eighteen years.

    This is a happy picture, although painful to draw and paint. There are aspects which reflect the sadness.... The two sisters, Missy and Sapphira comfort each other as their older brother leaves them behind, although the road to his happy hunting ground is closer for them than for their younger adopted brother, Leonard. He sits close by, a little on his own, bidding farewell to Gizmo whilst waving to Harvey, his brother and best friend, lost to us in 2019 who I know he misses dreadfully. They are all sat down, firmly rooted in our world, as he floats towards his ginger furred litter brother, and Harvey, the latecomer to the family, the other grumpy old man, he and Gizmo studiously ignoring each other even when curled up on the same small cushion...

    But Gizmo is pictured still close to his earthly family, still almost within our reach. He filled our lives every day - we are still seeing him in everything we do, hearing his demanding meows, feeling where his furry, purry body would snuggle. We hold on to him just for a while... Ahead of him he has candy floss clouds that catch the love we send, an endless supply of heavenly sausages and even Harvey is willing to share one of his snuggly wubbies with his curmudgeonly compatriot. Sadness, loss and joy, expressed in a way which, at a future date, even my husband may be able to enjoy. 

     For now, it stays inside a folder with other emotive pieces. The record is made, the catharsis has been processed, and the colour and joy that Gizmo gave us will be held as a record never to be forgotten.

A Hero's Passing

 

 

Gizmo Aloysius Graymalkin Wilkins. Hero, champion, leader, companion, friend. A sporter of impressive trendsettng pantaloons and fashionable crazy whiskers. Scourge of rodentkind and fearless warrior. "Sossoge" aficionado and quiche devourer...bumsmells innovator and soft cuddler. 

*  *  *

    Tonight, Gizmo -the champion of our hearts - has left us to cross the Valhalla rainbow bridge. His once proud and virile little body could no longer house the mighty spirit that resided within and it was time to grow wings and fly to the hall where all eternal mighty heroes reside in glory, feasting on tales of their astounding achievements, triumphs in battle...and "sossog" quiche.

 

 

     He was stalwart - walking beside his Father and best friend, matching him stride for stride, ready to celebrate the wonder of life and to offer solace when the challenge was too great. He never flinched, never failed, never waivered. Through to those last few moments, he remained, within, the Gizmo of his youth and left us with his mighty paws curled protectively around the arm of his dearest human - my Husband, Glynn. 

 

     The void left by the softness of his fur, the steady gaze of his eyes and the expressive meows and purrs is filled with the immeasurable love and joyous memories that can only come with eighteen years of constancy, the gift that was his lifetime. 

 

     Gizmo Aloycius Graymalkin Wilkins. He may have left for his new horizons, but everything that he was - everything that truly matters - will stay with us forever. There is no following this act - he remains the leading cat in the performance that is our life. We will cherish every second of him and one day join him at his table and voyage with him beyond the stars into eternity.

 

     Until the curtain rises on the next act, goodbye Old Man. I love you.

Sleeping Cutie

    Seriously???

 

    No matter how many snuggly beds we buy, how many wubbies, how many comfy nests we make up for him, Leonard will inevitably choose the most awkward, impossible, uncomfortable looking place to settle down and sleep. Anything precarious, pointy and possibly life threatening and he's there, snoring like Jabba The Hutt with a hangover. He's taken the whole 'being a cat' thing to the limit. 

 

   Who knew 'extreme sleeping' was an actual thing??

 

To Boldly Go....

    Gizmo decides to celebrate Bill Shatner's voyage into space with a journey of his own. After all, there's something to be said for trying to emulate your heroes.  

 

    Unfortunately Gizmo neglected to consider the negative side of confinement in the same sealed environment as his own particularly juicy and expressive trousers....

 

#bumsmells #fartinaspacesuit #onefelixsouptoomany

 

 

 

Tricksy Treaters

    The kids went trick-or-treating this year. They were allowed to choose their own costumes, which is always a risk, but I think they did quite well - although I'm not sure where Gizmo was going with his selection... The last thing that old boy needed was a spectacularly voluminous set of flamboyant trousers....even his companion, the ubiquitous rubber chicken - eternal deflated champion of "humour" - was endeavouring desperate escape from the windy well of despair...the gaudy pantaloons of doom... 

    ...And NOTHING good was ever going to come of Leonard's balloon obsession.

     Missy's recollections of the whole event are fuzzy at best, thanks to her "special" home brew and Sapphira loved her little devil onesie so much she had to be forcibly peeled out of it three weeks later... 

    They managed to menace six catnip toys, a packet of jammy dodgers, three socks and an extremely worried hamster. 

    Not a bad haul considering....

 

Medication...That's What Ya Need...

    Tablets, injections, syringes, sprays, gels, oitments, more tablets....this house is like a largely disfunctional emergency department. Aside from Missy and her 'breaking bad' sideline, medications are NOT a welcome part of our daily activity. 

    The only one of the feline four who's happy to imbibe is the only one who has no current official medical requirement, even though she 'falls over' regularly in front of Daddy on the garden path...."Oh, look, Dad! I did fell over an' evryfin'! Oh no - now I duz needz sum medsin an' tablits an' shit. 'Elp it down wiv a sambuca an' a kebab Dad. Love ya Dad. Oh! I did fell over agen!Oh no!......"

 

 

Love's Labours....

* sigh* Leonard in love.....

 

    Now that Leonard's housebound - thanks to his medical issues - he's pining for the love of his life. Her name is 'Boots' and she lives in her gilded castle next door. She's quite a mature lady, but in Leonard's eyes she is a creature of glowing and radiant perfection - an angel who fell from heaven just for him to worship and adore. 

 

     For months now he has been found on next door's property just gazing at the door awaiting his Love. Of course, this being Leonard, upon seeing her, all suave and debonair intentions are out of the proverbial window, and he rolls over and waggles all four paws in the air, rolling around like a daft kitten who's just discovered catnip. 

 

     Boots, for her part, is quite the coquette, and teases him with playful pats and scampers, flicking her tail and twitching her whiskers. She's not overdone the make-up, relying on her natural beauty and curves to captivate her boy toy!

 

     Alas, it is a doomed romance. Aside from Leonard's now permanent incarceration, Missy is opposed to the match in no uncertain terms, as Boots is her NEMESIS! Missy (somewhat ironically) refers to Boots's flirtations as "an embarrassin' display of slaggin' it up" and says she'll "knife her" if she sets paw on our land. She patrols our borders in her lazy way, flicking the odd sparking dog-end over the garden fence and eyeballing Boots's doorway with all the venom of a permanently pissed off rattle snake, flick-knife in paw and crotchless knickers hiked right up to the very top set of her kitty tits. She's not messin' about.

 

     Forbidden love. All that remains is for the two star-crossed would be lovers to gaze at each other through the window, bridging the expanse with their mutual adoration, while Missy plays aggressive gooseberry forever marking the eternal boundary between the two.

 

 

 

Daddy's Little Helpers

    When Daddy had to take a little time off work when he was injured, the kids pulled together to figure out how they could help..... Gizmo turned his paws to baking - mainly sausage-based dishes. Oddly the pies are always hollow when they're served...and a bit sucked.

 

     Sapphira and Leonard offered their dusting skills....an irony, given that Sapphira is a whirlwind of muck and Leonard's capacity to muster filth from any environment is famed worldwide. The spiders were an issue for Leonard, who sees them as small evil eight-legged alien 'shrooz', however they provided wriggling snacks for his miniature psychotic sister. 

 

     Missy had her own plans, falling back on her 'shady trading' to cover food bills...The medicine box was raided - AGAIN - and the neighbourhood filled with spaced-out hedgehogs and tripping badgers, the result of a couple of lines of the good shit (max strength Lemsip cut with hayfever meds). We've not seen a penny from her dodgy deals, mind you - she rolls in stinking of tequila, nicotine and pungent herbals, dodging the fuzz like a proper shady crim. (Also, she's saving for a summer in Magaluf so .....yeah...)

 

    Gizmo just likes pies. It's that kind of life...

 

A Little Sprout

Back to begin again with a Gizmo classic...

    Old man Gizmo seems to have half of the garden buried in his geriatric fluff, no matter how much brushing and combing is perpetrated upon his rickety person. I think he's managed to become one with the universe by becoming his own doddery eco system.... One thing is certain - he'll not run out of bio fuel (/toxic waste - point of view depending....)

 

Another lunch tin doodle for hubby.