AND SO IT ENDS

What? I'm a Cat!

I stopped the "Grendel and Me" columns a few years ago before age and senility awarded me with total recall of the distant past, and before I became an ancient mariner hooking unsuspecting wedding guests with supernaturally compelling sea tales. But I have one last hurrah as a tribute of farewell to my good and faithful friend and constant companion of 16 years, Grendel. The end came relatively quickly since he was diagnosed with feline chronic renal failure (CRF), not an uncommon way cfr cats to go. I gave him subcutaneous fluids for about six weeks at which time he keeled over one day and could sustain life no more. I was with him at the end where the vet ended his suffering gently and compassionately  in my arms. Many of us loose our pets and understand the vacuum left by such a loss, but I find it is more bearable to remember all the hours we spent together happy each with the other. My wife, Gail, suffers this loss as much as I, and together we heal. As for Grendel, in the words of the Bard, "The rest is silence."

EPITAPH FOR A CAT

I whose vision could explore

Things no man could see

Now am prowling evermore

The forests of eternity

Bernie