I found out last June that I was going to be a grandmother for the first time, thanks to my first born son and his wife. I had to keep it a secret (which was very hard to do) until they made the announcement. Well on January 21, 2021 We welcomed Jaxson James into the world and I immediately made plans to visit them in Arizona. Around this time my beautiful Tuxedo cat Harpo got deathly ill and I almost lost him. Thanks to my wonderful Vet he recovered and with all test results he was cleared and on the mend, or so I thought.
As I began to plan out my trip, purchase tickets, rent a car and figure out what to pack, my boy would have good days, great days and a bad day now and again. I had medication which I gave him regularly and made plans for my son to house sit and take care of him and my outdoor feral cat.
I left on a Friday and met my grandson for the very first time! He is beautiful and my heart is so full of joy over having him! I was so blessed to be able to spend time with him. I was going to enjoy him as much as I could for the ten days. He made me a Nali! While out there we went sight seeing, had a couple of beautiful meals out with family and friends and just an overall great time!
Unfortunately the Sunday evening after I left, my boy Harpo was gone. He was sick that morning and my son did everything he was shown to do, but Harpo stopped eating and his body slowly gave out, my son had to make the call to his mom from 2000 miles away. We both cried, me, more so for the fact that my son is the one who found him and had to take care of his final resting. I knew for me, I had a week to spend with my beautiful grandson, and his parents, so my attention was on them a hundred percent, but I knew upon returning home, the cold reality would hit me; My Harpo of almost 12 years was gone. The grief is strong, I miss him every day.
As I stated there was a feral I had been feeding outdoors, a very young (*less than a year old kitten). She and her siblings hang around because my neighbor feeds them. The Day Harpo got really sick was the day she decided she wanted to be “my” cat. I kept her outside because with Harpo already sick I didn’t want her to bring anything in to him, but the would chatter and “talk” through the windows. The day before his passing I saw on my kitchen cam that he jumped up on the counter (he did the rarely), but he was “talking” to his new friend. I would like to think he was having his final talk with her to let her know he would be leaving and to take care of me after he left. When I got home from the airport on that Monday, she came running to me! My heart was breaking for my loss, but I knew this was Harpo’s final gift to me. Let me introduce you to Shai (pronounced Shy) her name means “gift”. She chose me to love…and I feel Harpo told her to be kind and to not bother the birds and to sleep at night instead of play. Last night was her first night inside all night, she was excellent. Our adventure begins.
*UPDATE: Shai had a chip and has been spayed. Vet’s office had to try and contact the former owner however, no one responded, and one more thing she is not a kitten, she is seven years old according to her chip information. As of yesterday she is now officially mine, she has become an inside cat and was given a clean bill of health and received all her shots and tests.
Life, Love & Passion Through the Lens 