Spookys Sunset

These sites will never been the same in our home again. The favorite shelf on which to perch…

The couch corner…

The window ledge.

Maybe I’ll see shadows out of the corner of my eye and think she’s still there. Maybe her spirit always will be if not that then her memories.

Today Spooky bid farewell to our family. She’s been quite sick for the last couple of months and I think because of her illness she spent more and more time away from our family. I would make appointments to take her to the vet only to not be able to find her when it came time to go. I could see her getting weaker and weaker and after a couple of days of not seeing her and thinking she had already gone I was really surprised to see her come home last night. In my heart I knew it was her coming home to say good-bye. She wouldn’t even eat her food and only had a little water. Evo-man kept her company through the night by sleeping on the floor downstairs so she wouldn't feel the need to climb the stairs.

This morning I panicked because I couldn’t find her again and spent a good ½ hour looking in her favorite closet corners and under beds. I finally found her outside underneath a bush in my heritage garden. She was still with us but barely. So I rushed her to the vet. Spooky spent the day going through various tests and exams and by evening we knew she was in end stages of kidney failure and it wouldn’t be long. So we choose to say good-bye to her and give her peace.

Evo-man wanted to be with me when we bid farewell. Of all the kids he is the one who connected the most with her. In fact we got Spooky when he was a baby right before we moved to our Northwest home. You can kind of say that both Spooky and Evo-man grew up together.

Spooky was one in a million and the only cat that Prince Erik could have ever dealt with. She had an independent streak a mile wide and only got friendly and cuddly with people on her terms. If she wasn’t in the mood, no matter how much coaxing, she wasn’t interested. She was the smartest cat on the planet and would put our dog Itchy in her place in a second, know to give Prince Erik a wide berth, and could even understand and tolerate wild and crazy kids. Yet Evo-man had a special talent with Spooky and he alone could consistently cuddle her.

Spooky wasn’t a social animal. The only other cats she ever tolerated were her own kittens. We had her fixed after she had some but we were glad she had the experience because she became a much more people tolerant cat once she became a mother.

She was a great mouser too and we saw no sign of the rodents until the last few months when her step slowed. But she never looked a day over a year because she had such a tiny frame.
Every bit the Black Cat was Spooky, with her super glossy black coat and piercing yellow eyes. She could scare the ba-geebers out of you with her uncanny stare if you didn’t know her. My sister Sassy thought she was possessed. I think she just liked to tease. We knew Spooky well and loved all her quirks and personality traits. She was absolutley the perfect pet for our herd.

This evening we had a small pet funeral for our furry friend. Evo-man wanted her buried in the hole he had been digging in the back yard for the last few months. Good and deep. T-rev let her be buried in his coveted Play station 2 box. Abner helped the girls collect rocks for her grave and we even included some of the rocks from the farm where she was born. I blubbered, sobbed, unintentionally made funny faces and went through a million tissues right along with all the kids. At sunset with tears streaming down our faces we bid farewell to our most beloved family pet ever and thanked Heavenly Father for the experience of getting to know her.

Farewell Spooky, we will love and miss you!

Spread the U.G.L.Y.'s

Official Members and Honorary Members of the Ugly Club United Yesterday to send its President and Founder Heber C. Black off. I did what I said I would do and made myself and family a little badge to wear to honor my uncle and discovered my initial printing of 40 badges for the viewing was not enough. So the night before his funeral I made 80 more. They were gone as soon as they hit the table.

Here is my really UGLY sister Sandy. Oh, and Sandy if your really upset that I used your picture then please keep reading.



I learned a little bit more about my Uncle Heber's club at the services. The Ugly Club was started to recognize ‘An Alternate form of Beauty’, and not the outward beauty that is so focused on by the world. More than anyone my Uncle had this beauty. I think when all is said and done, it is about loving people no matter how they look, act, talk, dress, etc. My Uncle did this so well. I have a sneaking suspicion that everyone he met felt he cared for them as much as I felt he cared about me. So for me U.G.L.Y. stands for Uniquely Genuine Loving You. If you could be that Unique Person Who Has Genuine Love for Everyone, No Matter What – then maybe you just might be worthy to be a member of the UGLY Club. Someday, sooner rather than later, I would like to be an official member of this club and not just an honorary-for-a-day member.

My Husband’s Grandma Stella had this kind of love. She had a way of focusing all of her attention and interest on you whenever you were around her and none of it on herself and her trials. I truly felt she was excited to see me whenever our paths crossed. The world needs more U.G.L.Y. people, I think. Maybe if there are enough of them around some of their inner-beauty, would rub off on us. I think Heber and Stella found that magic substance called Charity.

‘And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.’ 1 Corinthians 13:13

During the family prayer for my uncle there was a humming sound that was heard. At first people were annoyed thinking someone had forgotten to turn off their cell phone. But it turns out it was my Uncle’s defibulator/pace maker going off. The strange thing was, the hospital had turned it off when he died. Maybe he was letting everyone know that he was there in spirit.

So for today – Spread the U.G.L.Y.ness around a bit and the whole world will be a better place.