Dear Princess Leia
You belong among the wildflowers… You belong somewhere you feel free. -Tom Petty
Last week, our dear cat of two and a half years suddenly succumbed to a heart affliction of which we knew nothing about until that day. There are no words nor tears enough to reflect the shock, nor the cruel and unusual punishment it is to take such a young life before its time.
Leia was a very small silver tabby with short, near muchkin-like legs and eight pounds of weight. She had the most beautiful gold markings especially around her lion nose. Despite her diminutive size, she was a mighty and fierce spirit, dominating humans twenty times her size. She ran this house with a quick claw, a sassy disposition and a keen need for love and companionship. She was always there when you needed her, and her presence was at once bold, entertaining and loving. My wife and son picked her out of a liter because she was the only kitten who was not afraid of our dog, Otis. As the other 10-week olds ran and hid from our sweet pug, Leia challenged him openly even at that young age. Later in life as my wife generously fed all of the stray cats in our neighborhood on the front porch, Leia was sure, despite her being the smallest, to chase those cats off to protect her home and family whenever she could find the opportunity. Once she had chased these larger cats to a sufficient distance, she would then slink back inside like the proverbial dog who caught the car, trouble thwarted, certain she did not want actual fighting and unsure what to do next otherwise.
Her happiest times were chasing lizards and frogs on the back porch, bringing them inside to toy with and leaving them as trophies for cleanup. She was deathly afraid of being locked out on that porch, and we constantly had to maintain doors to contain her disapproval. If she were to get locked out, you could be sure she would soon be at the window, looking as much a meerkat as anything, stretched tall on her hind feet while screaming murder to be let in. It is a picture I will remember fondly forever.
Each morning as I arose, she was usually awaiting me or sometimes we would get up together. Either way, her immediate mission was to clear the back porch of any threats. Bleary eyed, my first morning ritual was to turn off the alarm and open the back door for our protector to get to work. She would hunt until my wife would get up and feed her breakfast, as every good cat should. Next, as my wife would go to feed the neighborhood strays we seem to have adopted, Leia would take the opportunity to chase these threats away whenever she could. She was quite good at fooling you into thinking she was nowhere to be found, then suddenly arriving out of nowhere to chase those strays out of her territory. When she wasn’t chasing them, she enjoyed long days watching and napping in a window, ready to sound the alarm if there were trouble from those invaders.
Leia was more akin to a superhero than cat. She, like most young cats, loved to zoom, but her zooms were often silent. She would suddenly appear in a room, stop dead in her tracks and look around as if she had been there the whole time, seemingly out of thin air. Super Leia, arriving to make the world right again.
Leia was very social and talkative. She had that ability to chirp and call, like a bird, to let you know she was near or that she enjoyed the petting even though she was asleep. She wanted nothing more than to be part of the pack, and could often be found cautiously testing the environment to find the perfect place to snuggle up to Otis the Pug and/or the rest of the family. This ritual could last 5 minutes or more, you had to have patience with Leia’s careful unhurriedness in this regard.
If she was asleep, even in an uncomfortable position on your chest or feet, she would not move. It was up to you to adjust.
She would sound alarms when she was scared by something outside, and bang on a door with so much force to get in that you thought she would break it down.
There was no telling Leia no, just pausing her behavior for a moment. If she wanted to continue, she’d be back soon for the battle of wills. She almost always won or she gave up. She never lost, until the end.
Leia was a great friend and companion and will be missed terribly. She is gone far too soon, and the pain is raw and sustaining.
If God is good and the universe just, there is a beautiful field for her somewhere with wildflowers and butterflies and a great pack of friends to play and to cuddle with for the rest of days.
Memento mori, carpe deim, and one day with hope, amor fati.