Eileen's Eulogy for Scarlet:
Missy Scarlet passed away this evening. She transitioned
peacefully. While she passed on her own, I had just seen her a half hour
earlier, offering her a plate of food we both knew she would not eat but which
was understood to be another love offering.
She adopted Tom and me about 14 years earlier when we
visited the local We Care animal shelter. Clueless, we didn’t yet know that it
was the cat who adopted the human and not the other way around. She must have
seen something in us, this couple looking around at the hundreds of cats and
wondering how to choose. She leapt down from her high perch and, after a
pretense of a warm greeting, ordered us to take her home. The rescue staff were
all surprised as she was not considered a friendly cat. Instead, she was known
simply as a cat who liked high places.
We spent the first few weeks in the house climbing
stepladders to place food atop tall cabinets where she lounged. She really does
like high places, we would agree with each other. It turned out we were as
wrong as the shelter’s staff as, once she became accustomed to us, she
never spent time again atop tall cabinets. She didn’t like high places so much as she
generally disliked others and high perches allowed her to ignore other cats and
beings in the crowded shelter. She was
at the shelter for two years; her exact age at the time of her death is unknown but she was believed to
be about 18 years old.
She was grumpy and domineering but when she fell in love,
she fell in love obsessively. As a writer who spent a lot of time in front of a
computer, I’d often turn my face from the screen and suddenly realize with a
jolt that she must have been by my ankles for prolonged minutes or hours
silently staring at me—the kind of behavior that’d cause someone to call the police
on a stalker.
She also trained every single German Shepherd to be wary if
not scared of her. For my first two dogs Achilles and Gabriela, it may have
been the sight one summer of her in the backyard chasing down a mole. After she
caught the animal, she tortured it for a few minutes with her sharp claws. Then
she ran eagerly to us with her catch already half-way down her throat while its
tail wriggled from a corner of her mouth. Jaws dropped from my big dogs as they
stared in horror at her violent glee.
As a result, my 95-pound Achilles used to quiver in fear whenever her 9-pound body would enter the room.
But despite being wary, the dogs also all desired to be her
best friend. After she thawed over time, she occasionally would give the dogs
the benefit of allowing them to sniff her butt.
She was Queen of her domain and insisted always on doing
things her way, including when she would transition. From cancer, kidney and
thyroid diseases and some type of internal bleeding, she lived about a
year-and-a-half longer than her doctors projected. While she reluctantly left
behind her human family, we also believe that her crossing of the Rainbow
Bridge will turn her into a much nicer being. At least we hope so for the sakes
of Achilles and Gabriela who are waiting for her on the other side.
Rest in Peace, Missy Scarlet. You waged extreme battle
against the four diseases that tried to invade you—we will never forget your
feistiness, even as you gentled our grief eventually by passing peacefully
instead of forcing us to be the ones to make the painful decision of letting
you go. You love was as fierce as your warrior spirit. We look forward to
seeing you again as, ultimately, we also know you refuse to let us go.
(Scarlet and Gabriela)
(Artemis and Scarlet)
Very touching.
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