I’ve uttered those words from Whitman’s famous poem countless times the past 6 years. I suppose this will be the last time I do so for a while…
Although there is much to do… I need a bit of closure and I’m hoping this will help.
Captain - 隊長
June 2002 - May 28, 2008
After spending 2 restless nights (due to anxiety about Captain and dreaming of him when I was sleeping) and 2 sad days… and after an early morning conversation between caregiver and pet… I knew that that time had arrived for Captain to leave us.
I took him to his first vet (in Yonghe) this morning at 10AM when he opened his doors and only a few minutes later, he was gone.
Here’s 2 things I’ll remember most about Captain:
- For most of his life, he would go crazy each night sometime between 9PM and 11PM. He would run throughout the house leaping up on the couch or the back of a chair or onto a bookshelf. Sometimes he wanted to play… sometimes he just wanted to go crazy I guess.
- He always knew when someone in our family was sick and he would remain with them throughout their sickness. This wasn’t always welcome… like when you already had a fever… and now had a hot furball cuddled up beside you… but he learned to be “present” without interfering.
A good cat… and although some will roll their eyes… a good friend, too. He was the only one who lived with me who could even come close to staying up as late as I usually do.
Some have asked if we’ll get another cat. We don’t plan to… for a few reasons. One big reason is that we plan to go back to the USA for a few months starting in November and would have to find someone to watch the new cat. Although we’ve done that in the past with Captain, it will be nice to not trouble with that this time since our trip is relatively near.
I can tell you for sure though… that if any of you that read this have a cat… and we see you (whether you live in Taiwan or in the USA)… we’d love to play with your furry pets.
Here’s my all time favorite picture of Captain… followed by some others we like and a slideshow at the end. Thanks for indulging me with this post.
3 responses so far ↓
1 Amy // May 29, 2008 at 11:53 am
I feel so sad… when I missed my cat at home last summer, I’d always pet captain and it made me miss my cat less. If you come to Oklahoma, you can come pet my cat for sure! He’s a lot fatter than captain, though
2 Rod Seib // May 29, 2008 at 7:11 pm
Your family has lost a dear friend. I’m not a cat lover by nature, but I can appreciate how much Captain will be missed.
I grew up on a farm where cats were strictly kept for the purpose of keeping the local rodent population down (we had 17 cats at the peak of their proliferation). The dogs were the “real” pets and we always had at least a couple of those around at any given time. I find the most I can manage here in Taiwan now is a couple of hamsters.
Rod Seibs last blog post..McDonald’s: The Same, Yet Different
3 Todd // May 29, 2008 at 10:21 pm
Sorry to hear about your loss… my cat at my parent’s house in the U.S. passed away a couple months ago… it will be strange returning to visit and him not being there…
Todds last blog post..Butterflies in Taiwan
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