sampson 198?-2008 our little buddy

I've probably put this to the back of my mind for many reasons. We speak of attachments to things and people but rarely our pets. We are attached because they are more than just a pet to us. We get mad at them, take them for granted but love them alot differently than humans. When you truly love a pet you don't think about how important, stupid, ugly, tired, meaningless, selfish you are. You just love. You don't get a car, you don't get an atta girl, you don't get money, you don't get anything except love back from an animal when you love them. When you loose them you loose that special love. As I try and be supportive to my husband who has loved Sampson twice as long as me, I can't help but appreciate this. I am sorry I waited so long to say goodbye to my friend of almost 10 years. Most of the 10 years I've known him he was blind due to cataracts but the most fascinating thing was that he could always find his way around, even upstairs especially to find his best friend Ronnie. I can't stand to look down and not see him being held by Ronnie or hearing his mows or even getting mad at him for peeing so much. Ronnie would get so mad at him, all he wanted was up down from his lap and then Sampson would just sit with his nose barely touching Ronnie's leg, just to let him know he was there. Ronnie would always give in. Sampson loved to be held and Ronnie loved to hold Sampson. They were there for eachother, Sampson couldn't see and Ronnie had his buddy. Any time Ronnie was sad about missing his mom, I would pick Sampson up and put him in his lap.

I can't remember how many times I fell asleep with that cat in my arms, no matter what kind of shitty day you had you could hold Sampson and feel better in minutes. Sometimes you didn't even know how he ended up in your lap and you would try and figure it out and never would. My mom is 83, has always hated cat's all of them, they would make her dog's run and cause her to fall down or make her dogs bark and kill birds. When my mom was staying with us while my dad was in the hospital, she was lonely. Sampson would find his way to her lap and comfort her and keep her company. He did this till my dad came home and my mom will still tell you that Sampson is the 1st cat she ever loved. Ronnies mom used to feed Sampson his dad's lunch meat and tell him not to tell.

Snoop was Sampson's buddy cat, I can remember when we first got her and he did his little initiation behind the bed. It was love after that, Sampson and Snoop would be in a ball in one of the chairs or his bed or our bed or daisy's bed. Snoop really misses Sampson and it's sad but at the same time you realize that pet's mourn too even Kimmy who we thought didn't give two hoots about Sampson. Now Kimmy is all the time wanting to sit in Ronnie's lap when she avoided this room completely before. Daisy always respected Sampson and on occasion would sniff butt or give him a kiss. Biggie's saving grace with the group was that he loved Sampson even though he would've knocked him out if he could see. This house misses Sampson our little king with a big mow and even bigger heart. I miss your purr's your mows, your pacing, your needing, and your love Sampson. Rest in peace my little friend.

holidays

There are times when we battle our differences and then there are the holidays. I am thankful for this because in doing so you are able to let things just be for a few days and enjoy the true meaning. Being related can help sometimes, marriage, neighbors or even people in the grocery store, all attempting to reach a common goal. Sometimes we let stress from this or that eat at us till we turn into raging loonies and then we get to our last nerve and decide to let everyone know it. I happen to love gift giving, to me it's like showing appreciation of my love. It probably sounds corny but I could have just watched people open gifts all day Christmas without opening a single one and still would have had the best time. So it's not entirely about the gifts but it's more about appreciating what you have or have had that I believe counts. I feel bad for some people who say they will be happy when or they can't wait for this. I believe it's ok to want but we have to realize one thing, that happiness is here it's right now, this minute and it's in front of your face. We don't need "it" we need "now" for all happiness and I wish this for everyone.