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No One’s Ever Really Gone

Posted in Entertainment, Other, tagged , , , , , , , , on September 10, 2024| Leave a Comment »

James Earl Jones (1931-2024)

His career spanned three-quarters of a century and included work from stage to voice to movies, but for me he will always be Darth Vader. I’ve written about my love of Star Wars before, and that’s my anchor when thinking about James Earl Jones. 

Who else could have captured Vader’s complex and contradictory traits? Who made us both hate and finally feel for the tortured soul that was Anakin Skywalker? 

‘Star Wars’ colleagues lead tributes to James Earl Jones

“James was an incredible actor, a most unique voice both in art and spirit. For nearly half a century he was Darth Vader, but the secret to it all is he was a beautiful human being. He gave depth, sincerity and meaning to all his roles, amongst the most important being devoted husband to the late Ceci and dad to Flynn. James will be missed by so many of us…friends and fans alike.” 

— “Star Wars” creator George Lucas

A lot of tributes are being published, and if you’re interested in learning more about his impressive and wide-ranging career, I recommend reading them. Here’s just one, from NPR: Actor James Earl Jones, a beloved baritone, dies at 93.

But if you just want to take a quiet moment to appreciate the loss of this generational talent, may I recommend this: 

Thankfully, as Luke says, no one is ever really gone.

* * *

Photo by Josh Howard on Unsplash

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One Final Gift

Posted in Other, tagged , , , , , , , , on October 28, 2021| 3 Comments »

One fine summer day in 2006 Mr. Man came home from work and showed me a picture of an adorably tiny grey and white kitten.

Neko in 2006, in one of her rare down moments.

“You remember K, who lives on a farm?” 

I did.

“Their neighbor has a cat she hasn’t spayed, and a dog that likes to eat kittens.”

Well, that’s awful. What can we do?

“They’re forcing the neighbor to fix the cat so it won’t be a problem in the future, but she needs to find homes for a litter of kittens.”

I was pretty sure I knew where this was going. Mr. Man batted his eyelashes at me.

“Look at that sweet face.”

He was right, the kitten was adorable, bright, charming and full of energy.

“Tintin could use some company, don’t you think?”

Neko and Tintin

We brought her home a few days later. Tintin was not quite as happy about the company as we had hoped, but we were right about her energy and intelligence. 

Neko was a catch-and-release hunter who never met a mourning dove she didn’t want to bring home to play, a fierce protector who growled at unexpected visitors, and while never a cuddler, she always wanted to be close. 

Was she smart? Oh yes. She led us to problems like leaking basement pipes and trained us to open the patio door on command, to build cardboard palaces, and to carry her up and down the stairs when they got to be too much for her to manage. 

The garden queen in her domain, 2013.

Last month we learned she had lung cancer, along with a rare complication called lung-digit syndrome that made it hard to walk as well as breathe. We consulted an oncologist, got new meds, gave her treats, and generally did what we could to keep her comfortable. We watched her energy and appetite wane. She lost weight. Stairs became a draining once-a-day event. Two days ago she stopped taking her meds.

* * *

For fifteen years we made her hunting blinds so comfortable she couldn’t be bothered to actually hunt, decorated rooms with blankets and fleece beds, and made sure we fed the birds year round so that there was always something entertaining out the windows. Whatever we could to make her life better.

Sometimes the only thing left is to make the end as painless as possible.

So today, we did that too.

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Adulting is Hard

Posted in Other, tagged , , , , , on March 31, 2017| 3 Comments »

Brave Sir Tintin (1999–2017)

Tintin was an excellent cat. Orphaned on the frigid November streets of Ottawa at the tender age of six months, he nevertheless established a loving home complete with devoted human servants. Well-traveled and handsome to a fault, he remained a homebody who adored a good cuddle by the fire. He was sprightly enough to catch mice despite having no front claws, but never missed an opportunity to lounge in a sunbeam.

Tintin passed away following complications from lymphoma which, according to his vet, would have felled a lesser cat long ago.

He was loved, and he will be sorely missed.

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