Una, you and Riley have been on my mind all weekend. I hope you're doing alright.
I know my name probably isn't very familiar. I was much more active on the Forum prior to Labor Day, when my cat started to become seriously ill and her slow decline began. After Emily's illness and death, a pipe burst in my bathroom recently, displacing me from my apartment (extensive flood damage) and setting in motion an aggressive apartment search on my part. All of this has kept me preoccupied and off the Forum for many months. But the reason I'm writing about this in your thread now is because I've seriously felt some wonder toward the miraculous timing of these events. I feel very fortunate that I was home when this pipe burst and was able to stop the flooding before it destroyed everything I owned, but I especially feel relieved that Emily wasn't here in the midst of it. I am not a religious person, but there is something about all this that feels very fortuitous. If all goes well, I will sign a lease for a much better apartment tomorrow morning, and some part of me feels like my little Em is watching over me, that she is rooting for me and maybe? even has a little paw in pushing this sequence of events along to get me out of my current terrible and dangerous apartment. Whether or not this is the case, I have felt remarkably calm about this very stressful situation and very connected to Emily throughout it, wherever she may be. I acknowledge that I may be turning into a crazy cat lady to feel this way, but I don't care. I feel Emily's presence and choose to believe she is looking out for me somewhere with love and concern and that maybe she is even pulling some strings (heh heh, one of her favorite pastimes) to take care of me. If there is such a thing as a guardian angel, I hope Emily has become mine.
Una, I didn't intend to hijack your thread with this little "tail" of my personal plight--I just hoped it might help during this painful time to hear a small story of feeling a beloved pet's presence after passing. These stories were comforting to me in the weeks following Emily's death. I hope you and your family are well and can take some comfort in knowing what a wonderful life you gave Riley.
