Editor-In-Chief
KYLE, Texas - One of our favorite Tex-Mex cafes is open today. It wasn't yesterday. On Mondays, the good people at Garcia's Mexican Restaurant here take the day off. They deserve it. The place on Ranch Road 150 just east of Interstate 35 is busy most of the time, Sunday mornings especially, when the church crowd takes over the small dining room. It's expanding, we've been told by the happy-faced waitresses, and that deck patio is getting some attention for eventual use. Perhaps it'll all work out. All I know is that I always enjoy their warm breakfast plates and the dark-black coffee.
Monday, however, was a day for a bit of everything. We spent the morning in West Kyle, at the vet's office, where our house cat - Kid - was put to sleep. Margaret's had him for almost 18 years, and it was time his suffering was ended. Old cats, me included, get to that stage. It's a graceless exit for all us; death I mean.
So, we brought Kid home in a cardboard box and Margaret and I buried the beautiful gray cat in our backyard, me shoveling the ground while thinking about the moment when Margaret, a sensible daughter of Nebraska, would have to reach down for him and lift him into the grave. I generally am a cold SOB, but Kid was a member of the home. He whined a lot and often interrupted our morning coffee chats downstairs, but he was also an individualist of sorts, at time snarling at Lenny, the other house cat, or at Lazlo, the poodle, or at Doolie, the home's second dog. Lenny's real name is Sammy, but he looks like a Lenny to me, so I call him Lenny. Lazlo's real name is Nene, as in a small Hispanic boy, but he looks like a Lazlo to me. Doolie looks like a Doolie, so he is still Doolie. Don't ask me about Margaret's take on my re-naming of the other two.
And throughout all this, I battled bullshit from my fellow bloggers, me thinking should I bother with that dogshit on a day when kid has passed? It was something to think about. It was something human, I suppose. Battles go on in life, even when you've won them all along the way, and even when other more-pressing things and events surface unexpectedly. I mean, Kid was with us this past weekend. He was with us when my two daughters visited us last month. And now he is gone. My oldest daughter is coming this weekend with her family. The kids, I know, will ask for Kid. They met him earlier and they played with him and they saw him bop about the house.
But he was getting old and the pains of age had crept up on him and wouldn't abate.
Kid was suffering and would suffer even more, is what the vet told us. So he was put to sleep, forever, to go where good cats go, to perhaps even join another family in the beyond. I hope so. Most who know me know that I'm not much of a pet guy. What hard-ass journalist ever loved a cat?
I don't know. I don't know.
What to do?
I asked my daughter Gabrielle about it, and she said: "Does Margaret like them, Dad?"
My reply was, "Yes."
She said, "Don't return them, Dad."
I didn't...
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26 comments:
What a nice story. I have pets and I am not looking forward to them dying. Thank yu for the story of your cat. I enjoyed it and was impressed by your writing. A reader.
exellent story. Good points on the Editor's note about Kori marra. we'll wait and see how it goes for her. Canseco is a joke. Who cares about him anymore. used steroids to pump himself up and now he wants people to see him manage? Loser!
hey, nice boots, man! But sorry about your cat. We lost ours last year and we still miss that guy. Good post.
I buried my wifes parrot last Christmas, my daughter put a note in a wooden box, they made me build.
No tombstone, the hole had to be digged deep, because the daughter was afraid of the alley cats.
Poor bird he got sick over night and by norning he was sleeping, stiff as a rock.
Gilberto Hinojosa, my goodness, the state Dem party is going beneath the crevises of the barrel. This guy is bad news, anywhere he goes.
The Canseco dudes are no more than street bums. I don't see why anyone takes those jokers serious.
Know about pets dying. It's almost as tough as when a family member dies, i mean a human in the family. Condolensces.
Anon, you are right, we do get attached to the little creatures, rip.
We had a dog named Bob (after Bob Dylan & I named him too). He died of old age. Pets age and it's not pretty. They suffer, so vets will tell you to put them to sleep. Your story brought back memories of the day Bob died. thankz
Gilbert Hinojosa at the state level. Oh, no! the brownsville crap spreads. LOL!!!
A little background history on Kid: He was originally a McAllen cat, I used to joke that his middle initial was E. and that made him Kid E. Cat. He was half-wild when I got him and his mother was so fond of him that for 3 days after I took him inside, she would come and leave a mouse at the door for him. He used to come to my bedroom door and instead of scratching, he was able to make a sound exactly like knocking and then he would say "Mom". He sounded so much like my kids that I would answer "What?" before realizing that it was Kid. In the last couple of years, he became profoundly deaf and he began to yell at us instead of politely meowing. He would howl so loudly that you could feel your eardrums vibrate. It's awfully quiet around here now. And sad.
Rick Perry will take the federal money and enrich his friends. He ain't worth a s@!t. Wasn't there talk a few years back in Austin that Perry was gay?
Ralph:...Interesting comment. Yes, the rumors in Austin a few years back about Gov. Perry being Gay were so loud that Perry called the Austin American-Statesman and asked that he be interviewed on the matter. I recall he denied it vigorously. It seems Perry had been accompanied often by a younger blond-haired man on many official trips his wife did not go on. The alleged boypal was an official in state government, although I can't remember his name or what office he served in. I'll keep checking... - Editor
Mr. Editor/Ralph, the San Antonio Express wrote an article somethime before the election about Perry, involvement with a gay organization, or attending a gay function. Something to that affect. Maybe that is why he was a cheerleader at A&M.
Ms. "M" now that Kid is gone, you can get better night sleep. There is bunch of those little critters running all over the alley. Harlingen, has no ordinance that prohibits cats running lose.
Good luck, with your new cat.
Mr. Editor, I never heard of vets of world war I and world War II or the Korean Veterans complaining about PTSD. I did hear a Korean Vet, tell me once he was shell shocked.
Had a lot of respect for this man from around the Gonzalez Texas area, owned 8 semi-trailer trucks and 12 tandems, a real hero, went to war, made a good life, raised a family of 9, four daughters, I went out with one of them for a year, not once did I hear him complain about the war, or illnesses.
I used to be envious of his succes, and patterned my life after his. I am a viet-nam era vet, and have done okay, not as good as Victor.
anon, there are thousands of veterans out there who made something of their lives and we never hear about them. The editor of the Tribune is a veteran, unlike that Chapaneco dwarf. Some like to talk about stuff they did and went through and some don't. It's a fact. good to know about vets like your friend. thanks for sharing.
the elderly, the poor and the vets are losing out. we are a sorry-ass society if we can't take care of our elders.
I hope the voters of Texas, keep this things in mind, and vote democrat nex elections.
What a pack of Republican Bummers, taking away from the ederly, to keep the big whigs on top of the world. The Robin Hood program, take away from the working and give the money to the kings.
Didn't Chapaneco the hemorroid endorse Rick perry? He did! And he thinks he is credible. The dwarf knows about politics like I know about rockets. es un pinch chantaje ese buey. LOL!!!
What does Chapete know about endorsing. he is 4-foot-7inches short! and a former pachuco! Double wammy, chapaneco. no credibility. just a million press releases and equal bible verses. stop fooling yourself, dwarf! LOL!!!
Chapapencho, he doesn't know beans about politics, he endorsed John Wood and lost. He supported Ortiz and he lost. People automatically support people Chanpencho endorses.
Oh boy, more people found in Mexico, wasn't there a movie about the killing fields. Mexico needs escorts for the buses. And good two way radios.
What is all the fuzz about Brownsville and the new Air Line, Patricio Auhmada, and the pack of wolves, known as commissioners better get on the ball.
Harlingen is watching, I bet, it won't take them that long to bring in the new line.
Muevanse pendejos.
So Brother Raymond Bufford Jonesy, have you decided, whether you are taking your flea market ministry to Harlingen city commission meetings??? 'They will love you there, bro.'
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