We lost a cat today. He was old and it was natural causes, but we’ve seen it coming for months. He slowly started to lose weight, even though he was still eating, but his energy levels went down to the point that he could hardly move on his own. My youngest daughter took on the job of feeding him three times a day and giving him his medicine and that alone probably extended his life for a couple weeks, but this afternoon, he finally succumbed to mortality and died.
Smokey was a cool cat, the only polydactyl we ever had, but he was never as social as all the other cats in the house. For years, he wouldn’t come near anyone but my daughters, then he realized one day that affection was actually a pretty cool thing and he became a much more loving cat, seeking some loving at random, but never wanting to sit in your lap or sleep at your feet. Still, he was a great cat, I’ll miss him.
Over on Atheist Camel, he had a post a couple of days ago about how atheists deal with death. My answer then is the same as it is now. It’s accepting reality as it is. Death, whether you like it or not, is a natural and normal part of reality. It’s coming no matter what you do. Whining and crying and bitching and moaning about it won’t change a thing, so what’s the point of it?
Let’s be pragmatic about the whole thing, shall we? Life is what life is. Reality couldn’t care less what you think about it, it happens as it happens and there’s no point whatsoever about complaining about it. Fearing death doesn’t stop death. It just ruins your life and waste your time while you’re shivering in a corner. Why not just accept that death is coming and enjoy the life you have to the best of your ability. Death comes when it comes. Life ends when death comes. If you wait until death looms to enjoy life, you’ve wasted the majority of that precious resource.
So while I am absolutely going to miss my cat and he’s going to leave a hole in my heart for a while, he was fantastic while he was here and now, effective this Saturday, we can go to the shelter and adopt a new little ball of fluff and love it and care for it for another 14 years.
And the circle of life continues.
