I know it's Silly Cat Sunday but I am veering away from it to pay a tribute to Lemmy who died a year ago this evening in the arms of his loving mom after briefly battling a brain tumor. Last year on a hot and humid evening I received a shocking text from Lemmy's mom saying the complications of his brain tumor had gotten worse. He was having multiple seizures per day, frequent peeing (hence the pee pads you see under his dear feet) as a result of the seizure medications, and at the very end he was having trouble using his back legs. I was in denial hoping to get a follow up saying he was fine. Sadly, he didn't leave the vet office that evening.
This was the last picture I took of him just days before he passed away and, sadly, I had an eerie feeling I would not see him after I playfully asked him to pose for me. This guy meant the world to me and to this day I do not think I will ever recover from the loss.
Why has his death taken so much from me when I've had so many other memorable clients, you ask? There are many reasons but what stands out the most were his soulful eyes that spoke volumes when I did certain things that made his day such as driving him, his brothers, and my coon hound, Daisy, to get ice cream or to go on walks to his favorite location (a big field in front of the grocery store) and the grocery store entrance itself because he loved hearing shoppers tell him how handsome he was! I spent so much time with him that you would think I lived at his house and with that comes an unbreakable bond that I will never, ever forget.
Looking at this picture is bittersweet. I just hope he knew that I loved him and hoped and prayed I would see him one last time but, unfortunately, his illness went through him too swiftly and he needed to escape from it so he could have the peace he deserved. Thank God for his mom who unselfishly let him go to Rainbow Bridge right when he needed to and not a moment too soon. May he rest in peace.
