SUMI - The Soulful Cat

"We who choose to surround ourselves with lives even more temporary than our own, live within a fragile circle, easily and often breached.
Unable to accept its awful gaps, we still would live no other way.
We cherish memory as the only certain immortality,
never fully understanding the necessary plan."

Irving Townsend.

To My Little SumiSake
(Momcat)

Sumi's Goodbye

To My Little Loving and Willful Spirit Sumi

(July 25, 1999 - September 22, 2011)

Why are you not here

Why are you gone so soon

Not on the patio,

Not on the dock,

Not in the porch,

Not down by the rocks….

Years ago when you left,

I would search everywhere,

Find you and bring you home,

Now my mind still searches,

But I’m still so alone.

Have you found him, Have you found Slick?

He said he would wait, but why so soon, why so quick?

The dog beds seem empty, Lili misses your purr

Even with four dogs in them, there’s no soft blue fur.

For 12 years I've looked all about

Were you in or were you out?

Big blue eyes in a little grey face

You’ve broken my heart as I look every place.

For my little grey girl with the heart of pure gold

And the big blue eyes that were a wonder to behold.

In bed I miss your warm, soft body

And the touch of your Meezer fur.

But most of all I miss

The rumble of your loving purr.

Your purr is what defined you,

It spoke your unending love.

It bonded us on earth together

Sweet soul-sister now above.

Its not the same as having you here

Asleep on my lap as you always were.

The days were so hard

Watching you go

With your svelt body gone

Life has dealt a cruel blow.

The surly bonds of earth you did not release with ease or grace

You held your ground as you always did

And then in your own time you valiantly took your place

With the angels and the Spirits

And with Slick and Yoube too,

And all the rest that went on before you.

And now I wait, along with you, until my earthly days are through…..

I love you sweet, TooToo and I always will……

Love, MomCat

My life with MomCat began on Sept 26, 1999. She drove all the way to Springfield, TN to find me and bring me home. She told me that I had a job to do … it was to LOVE Slick, as he was very lonely and didn’t want to live any more. When we got to the house, I saw what she meant, he was a mess, but he immediately started washing me and purring. I knew my job would not be hard, as I already loved him. We were together all the time, he showed me about the yard and where I could and could not go when I was old enough to go outside. I washed him when he didn’t feel well and if he didn’t want to go for our daily walk, I went and told him all about it. We were inseparable for four years, then one September day he went to sleep in a chair on the patio and just did not wake up. Now I knew what he had felt when Mom said I needed to help him. There was a huge empty hole in my heart and I looked all over the neighborhood for him. I no longer wanted any part of the rest of the cats. Someone must have chased him away, I thought, although deep inside I knew he was now in spirit. I grew accustomed to being on my own, sometimes I even had tiff’s with Hallie outside or Zeeza or Ditto inside as I missed him so and did not really understand. I liked Lucci OK, but she didn’t much like cats so I couldn’t sleep with her. The next spring MomCat brought home a new dog, she was the same color as me and her name was Lili….she did for me what I did for Slick….make me feel good again. I could sleep with her, play with her and walk with her and Lucci around the yard and even up the street when Mom wasn’t looking! She learned quickly that I had to be locked inside when they went for their dog walks, as I would go too, albeit several yards behind them! As the years passed, eight in all, I really enjoyed my canine friends which now numbered four. They made room in their beds for me on cold nights or hot nights when the air conditioning was really cold! And I always slept in their dogbeds on the couch with them every evening while Mom knitted or watched TV.

Not long ago I got to feel like something was wrong, when it was really bad I couldn’t hide it anymore and Mom took me to the vet where I had to stay hooked up to an IV everyday. I did get to come home at night, but hated going back every morning. When it looked like that wasn’t going to help me like they all hoped it would, I got to stay home and Mom took care of me. I was too weak to fight at first and let her do whatever she thought she needed to to save me, but it was no use, I knew that and I think she did too. I didn’t want to ever go back to the vet, so I got to spend my last days laying on the decks and the dock and wetting my mouth in the lake. The last day Mom had to carry me down, but we stayed for a long time and I slept off and on, but was very weak. Mom held me a lot, but I really just felt better laying in my bed.  I was her first little girl kitty to leave her in allmost 17 years and she had a hard time saying our final goodbye. The angels came to save me from my weakening body as I lay in my big warm big dog bed in the bathroom with Ditto, Minka and Mitsu, whom I allowed to lay with me while I was so sick.

Old Friends.............................................................................New Friends  

I'M STILL HERE
Author Unknown

Please don't mourn for me,
I'm still here, though you don't see.

I'm by your side each night and day
And within your heart I long to stay

My body is gone but I'm always near.
I'm everything you feel, see or hear.

My spirit is free, but I'll never depart
As long as you keep me in your heart.

I'll never wander out of your sight...
I'm the brightest star on a summer night.

I'll never be beyond your reach....
I'm the warm moist sand at the beach.

I'm the colorful leaves when fall comes around
And pure white snow that blankets the ground.

I'm the beautiful flowers of which you're so fond,
The clear cool water in a quiet pond..

I'm the first bright blossom you'll see in the spring,
The first warm raindrop that April will bring.

I'm the first ray of light when the sun starts to shine,
And you'll see that the face in the moon is mine.

When you start thinking there's no one to love you,
You can talk to me through the Lord above you.

I'll whisper my answer through the leaves on the trees,
And you'll feel my presence in the soft summer breeze.

I'm the hot salty tears that flow when you weep
And the beautiful dreams that come while you sleep..

I'm the smile you see on a baby's face...
Just look for me, for I'm everyplace!

When Tomorrow Starts Without Me

When tomorrow starts without me
And I'm not there to see,
If the sun should rise and find your eyes
All filled with tears for me.

I wish so much you wouldn't cry
The way you did today,
While thinking of the many things,
We didn't get to say.

I know how much you love me,
As much as I love you,
And each time that you think of me,
I know you'll miss me too;

But when tomorrow starts without me,
Please try to understand,
That an angel came and called my name,
And took me by the hand,

And said my place was ready,
In heaven far above,
And that I'd have to leave behind
All those I dearly love.

I had so much to live for,
So much left yet to do,
It seemed almost impossible,
That I was leaving you.

I thought of all the yesterdays,
The good ones and the bad,
I thought of all the love we shared,
And all the fun we had.

If I could relive yesterday,
Just even for a while,
I'd say good-bye and kiss you
And maybe see you smile.

But then I fully realized,
That this could never be,
For emptiness and memories,
Would take the place of me.

And when I thought of worldly things,
I might miss come tomorrow,
I thought of you, and when I did,
My heart was filled with sorrow.

But when I walked through Heaven's gates,
I felt so much at home.
When God looked down and smiled at me,
From His great golden throne,

He said, "This is eternity,
And all I've promised you.
Today your life on earth is past,
But here life starts anew.

"I promise no tomorrow,
But today will always last,
And since each day's the same way
There's no longing for the past.

"You have been so faithful,
So trusting and so true.
Though there were times
You did some things
You knew you shouldn't do.

"But you have been forgiven
And now at last you're free.
So won't you come and take my hand
And share my life with me."

So when tomorrow starts without me,
Don't think we're far apart,
For every time you think of me,
I'm right here, in your heart.

~By David M. Romano, 1993~

GOODBYE MY SWEET SOUL SISTER, SLICK AND ALL THE OTHERS AWAIT YOU
YOU ARE ARE IN MY HEART FOREVER

Send mail to:MomKat

Back to Kat Karma and all my Old Friends

To Gumby's Memorial Page - He went before me to the Bridge on May 11, 1998

To Ichabod's Memorial Page - He went before me to the Bridge on July 6, 1998

To Henry's Memorial Page - He went before me to the Bridge on October 9, 1998

To My Loving Slick's Memorial Page - He went before me to the Bridge on September 13, 1998

To My Old Friend Nugget's Memorial Page - He went before me to the Bridge on February 6, 2004

To My Old Friend Cletus' Memorial Page - He went before me to the Bridge on October 26, 2006

To My Old Friend Yoube's Memorial Page - He went before me to the Bridge on April 10, 2008

This page was written a few weeks after Sumi's final journey Sept 22, 2011 to honor her life on this earth