Yesterday the beloved husband said the most romantic thing. He said, “I hope you outlive Jake.” Jake is our cat. Of course he doesn’t want to share me with anyone, not even a cat! So sweet. Maybe. There is more to the story.
I assume that the beloved husband will outlive me. I had a bout with breast cancer ten years ago and it left me feeling vulnerable. I no longer feel that I will automatically outlive everyone just because it’s me.
There actually may be people left on earth when I die. This was a new concept for me. Seriously!
My brother’s long-term goal in life has been to outlive me. It isn’t as mean as it sounds. You see, the women in our family far outlive the men so he made it his mission to break that trend and the only way he can is to outlive me, his only sister.
He’s not doing so badly considering he’s 16 years older than me. He’s healthy, very active and a great golfer. His mind works well except for politics. Everyone has one weakness. All that at 80ish.
The prospect of dying isn’t so bad. It’s much better than some alternatives. Everyone does it. I’ve lost people close to me. Perhaps I’ll see them again…maybe.
The beloved husband will rebound. He is resilient. The bad part is that I need to be sure my cats are taken care of.
That brings me full circle back to Jake. You see he is a 15-year-old diabetic cat who doesn’t know he’s a cat. He hasn’t quite figured out why we haven’t given him a key to the house yet and he is not happy about that. He likes to come and go when he wishes.
He prefers to express this displeasure around 4 a.m. with howls that would wake the dead. (So much for a peaceful death!)
Yep, that means every morning at 4 a.m. I get up to do something to calm him down and go back to sleep.
I am not saying I’m happy about this. Sometimes it takes a while to get him quiet. I have composed his obituary at these times. I have visualize the next cat that I will rescue (it must be a quiet one!). I am not proud of these thoughts.
These feelings go away when I wake up and he is smiling at me waiting for breakfast. He is affectionate and so happy to see me (perhaps because he knows food is in his future).
The problem is that I can’t trust that the beloved husband will do this. He is not very patient at 4 a.m. This is why it is so important that I outlive Jake. Since I’m at it, I may as well outlive the beloved husband and my brother but what’s the fun in that?
I remember someone asking a 98-year-old George Burns why he didn’t date women his own age. He said, “They are all dead!” Perhaps outliving all your friends isn’t a great idea. So there’s that!
Views and Mews by Coffee Kat 
Here’s to that! We all love our fur babies and I am listening to mine snore the afternoon away. They have such wonderful lives!
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Yes, I want to be my pet in my next life!
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A good life it will have 🙂
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You must publish one of your cat’s obituaries. 🙂
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I have to wait until he dies. It wouldn’t be nice to rush it.
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Think of it as a preview. They have nine lives don’t they?
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Sometimes I wonder….
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Hi, I got it working. I had to download a new version of Explorer (9).
Dan shouldn’t worry about the cat if he is up at 4AM, at his age, I’m sure he’s up for other purposes. Maybe he’s the one making all that noise at 4AM.
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Well, he did flush the toilet and wake the cat!
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Any day you wake up on this side of the grass is a good day, Kate. Jake is lucky to have such an attentive human companion. We hope we outlive our cats as well.
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When I was single, I had it written into my will that whoever took my cats would receive a portion of the inheritance. I expected one of my cat-crazy girlfriends to volunteer and I wanted to make sure she could afford it since she had her own cats. The beloved husband will take care of the girls because they are no trouble but Jake……
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Death, ah a trip of a lifetime. My girlfriend who is a cat lover when she talked about death, I said I’ll race you. She hated that. She died first before Ruby, the cat. Ruby died recently, cremated and now mixed with my girlfriend ashes. I know how you feel how to outlive your cat because it’s will make us worry in the afterlife.
Just like me I have two cats. I worry about Maurice the older one as to who will care for him. My nephews and nieces compete with one another that hoping I will leave the cats with them because they want to received the inheritance of taking care of the cats. HA!
For the sake of your cats, stay strong and live for awhile.
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You have managed to convert a scary subject into a hilarious diatribe. My dog is so old, she is bound to go first, and will transfer her paranoia to doggy heaven.As long as there are doggy antidepressants I don’t mind outliving her. But, I definitely hope my husband outlives me since I don’t want to do the taxes! 🙂
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Me too but not for taxes (I do them) but I don’t want to take out the garbage or shovel snow.
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Kate, I’m upset with you! I read your entire post, concerned mostly about Jake, you know. I have a birthday this week…Why did you have to insert some reality into my denial? Drat! That thinking stuff really is a bother!
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I prefer to stick my head in the sand and ignore it until an event happens to jerk me out. Join me in the sand. Denial is a wonderful place.
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I worry about Teddy. If I die before he does who will take care of him?. I am afraid someone will take him and let him be an outdoor cat. That is not a good thing. Maybe I should add something to my will like people do with there human kids?
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If you were closer I would take Teddy! Jake is an indoor/outdoor cat (mostly indoors these days and never out at night) but my other two are strictly indoors and it’s so much easier. No worrying when you can’t find them! I haven’t been able to convince Jake to stay inside and he howls too much to force him in.
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Maybe somebody could deliver him?
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Then you have a deal!
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Those cats. They want to be so independent, but they get very annoyed if you don’t read their minds.
For some reason Molly started waking up at 2 am every night. Even RC is getting tired of interrupted sleep. (I blame the media for repeated announcing that daylight savings time 2 am switch)
Why is it that no one else hears the dog whimpers or cat retching (sick or hairball? Better check…)? You are right…I’d have to dictate to many “care and feeding” notes – easier to stick around
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Hairballs! I always try to remember to watch where I walk in the morning!
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I have several friends that have lost dog or cat pets. One friend called me last year and sobbed on the phone for over 45 minutes. I finally told myself I had to take charge…….and she stopped and then we talked for another 45 minutes.
I don’t keep up with many from the high school class and have never been to a reunion. But each time I receive the yearly newsletter, somebody else has been deleted from the email list. When I no longer receive the letter, I will assume I am the last.
For some reason…I (mixedupmeme) have not been getting your updates in my reader. So thought I would subscribe through my other blog.
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Yes, I have the same problem with my reader. There are some bloggers that I am following (and they show up as following) that don’t come on the reader. Ya gotta love Word Press. There are so many good things about them but every once in a while there is a glitch. The trick is to catch it! Thanks for stopping by. I just visited your other blog and made the connection!
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Hi ladysighs and kate,
And may I say on behalf of ladysighs and myself that we have always liked your blog. The posts are friendly and folksy. They always give a nice little story. They are neither too long nor too short. They are often funny and make us smile or have a good feeling. The narratives do not ramble but show they are well planned. They are always a joy to read!
We like your new gravatar too. 🙂
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Awwww! Thanks!
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Live today . . . for tomorrow, who knows what’s in store!
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I love it when you wax philosophical. The fact is that we will both outlive a lot of people and pets. That’s just the way the system works. Maybe we should call cosmic HR about that!
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Well, here’s hoping you can outlive them all, maybe, if that’s what you would like. Horrible thought, though, outliving the ones you love. They are the ones that make life worth living.
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Exactly!
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One good thing about getting old – no peer pressure.
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Well, there is that!
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I had one of those obituary moments with my dog not too long ago … I’m in the process of a move, and he knows something is up, so when I closed him in my bedroom a few weeks ago because there were repair guys here, he voiced his displeasure by eating through the bedroom door. Yes, all the way through the door. He made a very big hole (he weighs just over a hundred pounds). Apparently he took offense to being told he wasn’t permitted to be in the garage while they were working in the attic. The work in the attic is all done. Now, of course, I’m replacing the bedroom door. I hope he’s happy with himself. It wasn’t 4 a.m., but it sure as hell woke me up. (smile)
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Pets have their ways of expressing their feelings. Too bad we can’t just have a civil conversation with them to explain things but that doesn’t even work with people.
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oh, I have conversations with them all the time … they just (apparently) turn a deaf ear to me. I’ve been very patiently explaing that we are “in transition” right now, but that very soon they will have a brand new place to explore. It seems the only word they understand perfectly these days is “cookie”. 🙂
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