Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2013/11/22
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]My heartfelt condolences. We?ve had one or more cats ever since about 1949, and have been through this experience more times than I can remember. One never gets used to it. Herbert Kanner kanner at acm.org 650-326-8204 Question authority and the authorities will question you. On Nov 22, 2013, at 3:22 PM, Douglas Barry <imra at iol.ie> wrote: > Today will not be a day I forget easily. It's JFK's anniversary and I have > another reason. I'm sure you all remember where you were at the time and > what you were doing. At 13 years of age, I was upstairs in my bedroom - > specifically in "Alcantara", Granville Road, Foxrock Co. Dublin - writing > an English essay - I used to remember the name of it up unto about ten > years > ago - when at at around 7.15pm GMT my father called up to me that President > Kennedy had been shot. We were all horrified. > > JFK & Jackie had only been in Ireland that June, so the fact that he was so > young, so friendly, so outgoing, the first US President to ever visit > Ireland, had the Jackie factor, and was of Irish descent, endeared him to > everyone here. The pair of them cut a colourful swathe through Irish hearts > who were used to the bleak flat pronouncements of stooped grey Irish > politicos like Eamon de Valera. To all of us Irish, the shots in Dallas had > killed one of our family, and robbed us of a brighter future. > > Wish I could remember the name of that essay now. It's probably incipient > Alzheimers.... > > Yet, today, at 12.08pm GMT, another more personal tragedy as our cat passed > on. Kofi was 16 and had developed cancer recently. Losing his sight a few > months earlier, he still managed to navigate well. He used to spend each > day > outdoors, stay indoors during the evening with us, and sleep outdoors at > night. However, once he had developed cancer, we let him sleep in the > dining > room with a litter tray. > > Yesterday evening, he started to do small circles of confusion, seemed > quite > unwell, and later it took me a while to get him to stay in his bed. This > morning, I found him jammed in an alcove in the tight space between a > cabinet and the wall. He couldn't reverse himself out and I didn't know how > long he'd been there. So, reluctantly, my 21 year old son and I took him to > the vet. The prognosis was grim, so my son agreed to let him be put down. > One injection to make him sleep after about ten minutes, then two in the > heart, and then, after a further five minutes, another two were needed, as > he was fighting mightily the onset of the eternal shadows, and he was gone. > > Kofi was a great mouser, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKIqSF3kBnk and, > much to our delight, a great ratter too. Unfortunately, as well as slaying > a > large number of the rodent family, much to our dismay, he had a taste for > birds which he dumped as offerings at the back door. The largest offering > was a splendid cockatoo which must have heartbreaking for some loving > family. > > He'll be missed, but the Kennedy memorial industry will always remind us of > Kofi's anniversary..... > > Here are the two final pictures of him. > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/DouglasBray/Kofi.jpg.html > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/DouglasBray/Kofi_s+Last+Journey.jpg.html > > Incidentally, how many of you remember where you were & what you were doing > on that day in 1963? > > Douglas > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information