It’s been a long summer for me, and out of nowhere as I was watching football (Fuck the Ravens), I just started thinking about the magnificent fat bastard:
You’ll never be completely done…but the space in between jags will get longer.
:(
2.
Daffodil's Mom
You’ll never stop missing him, John, or hurting. The acute waves will recede — they always do — and you’ll just learn to live with it; it’ll become a part of you and you’ll end up smiling at how great he was, right through your pain.
3.
raven
I think this applies:
Biden urged the survivors to have hope. “It can and will get better. There will come a day, I promise, when your thoughts of your son or daughter or husband or wife will bring a smile to your face before it brings a tear.”
I miss him too. So many times I have typed a comment asking about the Tunchinator and have stopped myself from pressing enter.
{{{{John Cole}}}}
Thanks for Tunch photos! Fat bastard was fat and magnificent
ETA: What are those instruments of torture near Tunch in photo#2
5.
Josie
No, you won’t be done for a long time. It creeps up on you and surprises you sometimes. Grief is like that – not just for animals, but for any loss. You just have to let it have its way with you and get to the other side. Over and over. I don’t mean for it to sound depressing. It isn’t. It is just a part of life.
6.
Baud
I still miss my first dog.
7.
CatHairEverywhere
Oh, Tunch- what a pretty boy. I still tear up when I think about my Max who was killed by a neighbor dog, and that was over twenty years ago. It does get better, but there is no shame in missing your furry friend.
8.
Msskwesq
This post made me cry. Again. Damn it. That was one special kitty!
aw, dude. i was already weepy because of the final thursday basset blogging, and now you gone and made me weepier…
10.
raven
Raven died over five years ago. I lit a mexican votive candle on his grave every day for a year. Now he has a permanent light, a statue of a cocker, a buddah and a St Christopher.
11.
mellowjohn
my wife still tears up over a cat that died more than 15 years ago. (he was pretty terrific.)
i’m going to be a wreck when our maine coon shuffles off this mortal coil. (he’s pretty terrific, too.)
in the 25 years we’ve been together, we’ve had probably close to 20 cats pass thru (we peaked at 9). some i loved dearly. some i just tolerated. but it’s always hard to lose one, no matter how you felt about them.
mourn the fat bastard at your leisure, cole. he was definitely worth it.
It’s truly amazing how much we all miss him, even though almost all of us never even got to meet him.
15.
Emma
My first dog died more than twenty years ago. I still dream about her. They never leave you. Ever.
And Tunchie was one beautiful cat.
16.
Comrade Luke
My cat’s at the vet for the second time in a week. Last week they discovered a lump under her tongue, which thankfully turned out to be a ruptured salivary duct as opposed to a tumor. They fixed her up, but she hasn’t eaten much at all in the week since, and has lost a whole pound.
I’ve had pets my whole life, and this is the best one I’ve ever had. I’m starting to get a a little freaked out that the doctor hasn’t called yet.
17.
donnah
That’s tough, John. I have shared my life with several dogs and cats, and they each have a special part of my memories. I can still clearly remember what it was like when our family dog was near passing, and he waited until I got back to my parent’s house before he gave up. I still cry when I remember.
Tunch was a wonderful beast. He’s never going to leave you and that’s okay.
18.
NotMax
Perhaps an ancient yarn about the widow whose two beloved, elderly dogs expired within a day of one another will cheer you up a tiny bit.
She couldn’t envision living without them in the house, so quickly arranged for a taxidermist to come over for a consultation. After a short discussion, a price for his services was agreed upon.
About to leave, the taxidermist turned and asked, “Oh, just one last thing. Would you like them mounted?”
Answered she, “No. Shaking hands will be sufficient.”
19.
Suzanne
I still miss my Nico (the best cat ever) every day. It’s okay, John.
Have yourself some ice cream and be nice to yourself.
20.
Odie Hugh Manatee
You’ll never get over it but eventually the fondest memories will be the only ones that you remember. Tunch left you with lots of those memories, cherish them. He truly was a magnificent cat and you were the lucky guy who got to be his life friend.
That pic of him on his back always looked like the “Help, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up! of cat pictures…lol!
21.
ruemara
You never stop missing them. It’s part of loving them. But you do stop crying at some point. Hang in there.
22.
SiubhanDuinne
He was such a wonderful cat. And dammit, he made me totally agree with Ted and Hellen. That’s just wrong.
The magic of Tunch was that he had a worldwide (“wide,” heh) fan club of probably hundreds and hundreds of BJ subscribers. I will make a confession here: when I got my iPad2 in June 2011, I set up a photo file called “Tunch and Piglets.” At this point it has (pauses mid-comment to go and check the album) (okay, I’m back) nearly 70 photos of Tunch, Lily and Rosie — and now Steve. But I would estimate that 45-50 of them are of Tunch. The album cover is that awesome photo of him outside the screen door, with glowing green eyes. As Charlotte might have webbed, “SOME CAT.”
Hopefully it is okay to miss them. I still haven’t vacuumed up some of Miss Moxie’s hair. I’ve had a lot of pets and this is the first one that I buried her ashes in the yard. She just loved the yard so much. I not only buried them but when friends come to visit, I make them come and see where. It’s true that time helps but you will always miss Tunch. Give Steve a hug.
We lost our big, fat, loverboy,Tuck 5 years ago. Sometimes the grief is overwhleming. It only gets easier because you can go longer between remembering. The loss is just as painful now as it was then. Just less frantic with worry. Tunch was an awesome kitty. He deserved to die from old age and an excess of spoiling.
27.
manyakitty
He was a magnificent beast with a spectacular tail. No reason to love him any less now than before.
28.
Litlebritdifrnt
You will never get over mourning him John, that is just the way us idiot humans are. We have to get used to it. When my beloved dog Sox lost her ability to walk after her back legs would no longer work we built her a wheelchair of sorts so that she could still get around. She hated it, and basically decided it was time to go. I wasn’t wiling to let her go but she said “fuck it I am not living this way”. That was ten years ago and I still look at her grave and weep silently from time to time. There is going to be a moment that reminds you of Tunch that you are going to smile and then weep. It is just the way we are. It is okay. Steve will take away a little bit of the hurt but he will never replace Tunch because he is not Tunch, nor could he ever hope to be. Steve is Steve, he can fill a little bit of a hole in your heart where Tunch used to be but he can never completely fill that hole. Flossie fills the Judy hole about 75%, and Skeeter fills the Cueball hole about 75%, but there is always that bit of me that wishes I had Judy and Cueball back in the house and wrecking the place.
He was a magnificent beast with a spectacular aftermarket add-on tail.
Fixed for accuracy.
31.
MikeJ
I will never understand why Obama had him killed.
32.
Yatsuno
:: hug :: I’ll make sure wifey knows you put this up when I get home.
33.
manyakitty
@schrodinger’s cat: Sully’s posts about Dusty and the whole “Last Lessons We Learn from Our Pets” thing, taken with Tunch and the aftermath have pretty much ensured that I cry at work several times a week.
34.
JPL
You will start remembering the funny and not so funny times though. Before Miss Moxie, I had a golden and sharpei that caused havoc. I walked into my house one time with a friend and a nice chunk of the oriental was missing. After staring in disbelief, I said Karen help me turn this around so I can put this side under the sofa. Problem fixed. I still have the rug cuz the ex didn’t want it because of the imperfections. What he called imperfections, I called memories.
35.
manyakitty
@SiubhanDuinne: Point taken. Spectacular, nevertheless.
36.
gogol's wife
Beautiful pictures. I hope you keep doing Tunch posts every once in a while. I love seeing him.
I don’t know if this will reach you, but on my way home from work on Monday I noticed this tiny white kitten that had been dumped along the road. It had the same markings as Tunch, but was all white w gray ears and a gray stripey tail. I picked her and her calico sister up, took them home and fed them, and then we had to take them to a shelter (allergic son and two energetic beagles). She was starving and covered in fleas, and weighed nothing, but she had a sweet personality. She knew she needed help along that road and made sure her even tinier sister was picked up too. Within minutes of being fed she curled around her sissy and was purring like a machine. I really hope they get adopted. My husband made a donation at the shelter. If I wasn’t such a Luddite I would figure out how to post a pic.
For anyone that feels like it Antoinette Tuff has a fundraising page for needy kids, she was asking for $1,500 the total so far is $10K. This woman deserves whatever money we can throw at her.
I think of him often, John, because my next door neighbor cat, a feline that goes by the name of Miss Tilly could easily pass for Tunch’s twin sister (although I think Tilly has a little more avoirdupois than Tunch did). She is particularly fond of lounging/napping on our back porch, so every time we startle each other I am immediately reminded of “His Magnificence”.
@Litlebritdifrnt: It’s 15,000 now. She has a handicapped child so she understands the needs of others.
48.
Elie
Its been three years for my Bill this Sept 2. I look at the place he was to put to rest in my arms — a little cubby off the top of the stairs with a big window. I held him in his favorite afghan (crocheted by my aunt), and watched him go — bitching all the way — MY BILL.
I will always miss him — always… and Max years before him. But Bill was my boy — my Mr Personality who could literally walk on the top of open doors when he was in his prime.
You don’t forget John… in some ways, I encourage you to enjoy the pain or at least the measure of what Tunch meant to you. That was very special and you will never ever forget him….
He was a beautiful, magnificent, epic, one-of-a-kind example of the superiority of our feline overlords. His spirit is noe and forevermore part of this community. We all loved him.
51.
Jane2
Tunch was a magnificent kitty, and a part of your family. My Trixie got cancer a year ago, and I still miss her sometimes as if it just happened.
52.
MazeDancer
Love lasts forever.
Thank you for the pictures, John. What a splendid, wonderful cat.
53.
Pogonip
I still miss a cat that died almost 45 years ago, so don’t feel silly, John.
54.
JPL
@Litlebritdifrnt: Was she on TV? It’s climbing so fast that someone mentioned it. She’s a bookkeeper for the school but had started this organization on the side.
@raven: That was so cool. There is another Obama story in the NYTimes if you can read it. Long story short, during DDay celebrations one of the parachuters met the President. The next time the President saw him was in Walter Reed. The young man had gone to Afghanistan and had terrible brain injuries. Just recently, he saw him again in Phoenix. It’s a two tissue story btw. link He’s going to meet him a fourth time in the White House.
Why hasn’t the NRA commented on the Decatur school incident?
60.
LittlePig
He was a dandy, and lived one helluva life. I’ve had more than a few like that, all buried in the back yard. Just love on Steve a while, you’ll feel better.
Maddow is doing the best work. Colin Powell called out McCrory today and basically told him he was full of shit. That was sweet. I really wonder how many time that Powell has to tell the Republican Party that they are racist sacks of shit, until they actually get the fact that they are racist sacks of shit.
Why hasn’t the NRA commented on the Decatur school incident?
I know, right? It’s not like there’s anything there that TOTALLY PUTS THE LIE TO THEIR PREFERRED NARRATIVE. Oops, sorry for being all shouty.
66.
LittlePig
Ralph, one of my old black cats, used to wake me up (“breakfast time!”) by putting a single claw into my lower lip and pushing. Worked every time. I’ve talked to other people who have had black cats do the same thing.
Black cats seem to instinctively try to cut you off as you walk (moreso than generic cats it appears to me). I think that’s part of the whole ‘bad luck’ rap they get.
Clara, my 20 year old tabby (“Cthulhu’s kitty”, as my son describes her) has a habit of that, but I just chalk that up to her other commentary (aka shitting under the computer chair when the litter is substandard, pissing on my jeans if I leave them on the floor, etc.)
67.
Sam
These feeling can come bubbling up when we least expect them. Especially with the other stuff you have mentioned that is going on in your life…
It happens to me all the time and it makes me feel better to hold a little tighter to me other fuzzy little critters. They aren’t the same, but they sure are good company and it helps.
Colin Powell called out McCrory today and basically told him he was full of shit.
Powell = RINO, of course. He still has much to atone for.
69.
p.a.
Ouch. Well saying it’s supposed to hurt doesn’t make it hurt less. Despite bad mouthing your photo skills, you have lots of great shots of Tunch.
70.
SiubhanDuinne
@kc: Oh, I didn’t even know that! Now I’m extra glad I saved so many photos when I did (despite feeling like a member of the TunchFanGrrlzKoolKlub the entire time).
71.
Carrie
Not a pet but today is the 3rd anniversary of my daddy’s death. He was my hero and my friend, i was very lucky to spend the last 2 years of his life living with him and my mom full time, hanging out in the garage just building furniture and having a couple of beers after 3 o’clock every day.
Love you dad, think about you all the time.
72.
JPL
@Mike in NC: Interesting factoid, although Powell was raised in the Harlem his wife is from Birmingham. I had the privilege of meeting them both and she is one classy lady.
edited..
73.
Yatsuno
@JPL: Alma Powell single-handedly kept her husband out of the White House. She pretty much predicted every single reaction Obama is getting now including the obstructionist Congress. I think she made a decent call there.
74.
SiubhanDuinne
@JPL: I met him (briefly, in a kind of receiving line after a speech he gave), never met Alma. But she always seemed like a very classy woman.
75.
LittlePig
@Sam: These feeling can come bubbling up when we least expect them.
Hell, I got weepy today at a work function (a retirement party) when he was telling cat stories. Having lived with cats continuously since 1969 I’ve got quite the reservoir.
76.
Citizen_X
That last pic is a fine portrait.
77.
James Hare
Persephone died so long ago that my next cat is now almost 5. I still miss her. They never really leave us.
78.
ruemara
@? Martin: I am. Goddess, I could puke from rage. Fucking rage.
79.
JPL
@Yatsuno: It helped that the extremist in the party wrote information about her taking antidepressants at one time. Now the extremists are the party.
@Carrie: Hugs to you, too. My dad died almost 19 years ago, and I still feel his loss very keenly. In a few days I’m coming up on what would have been his 99th birthday, and my mother’s 96th (their birthdays were a day apart). They are always very much with me especially around the time of their birthdays, and on their death anniversaries.
@ruemara: Nice dig there asking why the historically black college is seeing all of these changes and challenges, but the white christian school nearby isn’t seeing any.
Anyone have any guesses why that might be?
84.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
Our animal companions leave such big paw prints on our hearts.
And I would like to note, for the record, that Antoinette Tuff has more courage than the entirety of the NRAs membership combined.
91.
S
Lost my Dalmation, Lucky, on Valentine’s Day, 2013. Still tear up at the thought that she is gone. We think of our fur kids, current and past, daily but then out of nowhere the grief just crushes you for a while. Don’t understand it but it must mean something.
92.
Carrie
@SiubhanDuinne:
Thanks Siubhan, yes those landmarks always seem to loom in front of you and you start noticing a month before, a week before, then the day before the pre-grief starts…it does get easier but i always seem to give
myself about 2 hours of heavy grief (bawling, sappy email sending and endless youtubes of sappy songs) on the anniversary of their deaths.
Sorry all, going back to watching
youtubes…
@Carrie: I was panicked that my youngest would be born on the same day my father died because I didn’t think I’d be able to celebrate his birthday. He was born a day later and is now 34. It takes a long time. It’s okay.
@SiubhanDuinne: The NRA is probably peeking through her windows to see if she has granite countertops, as I type.
102.
Carrie
@John Cole:
Thank you, and i’m soo sorry for your loss. I was away at the cottage most of the summer and i didn’t find out what happened to the big guy until it seemed like it was too late to offer my condolences. Stupid and selfish of me, i know.
Tunch was a glorious, full bodied ball of love with a humongous fan club.
103.
Patricia Kayden
Dang was Tunch fat!
Of course, you’re going to have periods when you mourn his loss. I would think that’s something that you’ll always have to deal with. It’s nice that you have so many photos and videos to remember him by.
John, the other night I was in my old home town for a company outing and when I drove past the house I grew up in, I thought about our poodle Wooleyburger who wandered off at the age of 13 in 1979 and was hit by a car. She’s buried under the willow tree in the backyard. I had to pull over and cry for a while. And that was 34 years ago. She was that great a dog.
sitting here with a lump in my throat … gawdamighty, Tuncheroo was magnificent! He exudes personality right thru those pics. Cats like that don’t appear too often in our lifetimes. Your grief is a tribute to his awesomeness.
Makes me miss our TwitchyTail Furball who was also one of those Personality Cats. He’s been gone five years (cancer of the jaw at age fifteen) and my daughters and i still reminisce about him, and get weepy together. We loved the other cats we had at the same time, and mourned them as they each in turn died of old age, but it’s ol’ Twitcheroo who still gets me weepy because i miss him so.
I still cry for Stu, Strider, and Joey. It really never ends. They are with you forever, which is actually a blessing, even when it doesn’t feel like it.
109.
SiubhanDuinne
@JenJen: I’ve been hoping to see you, to ask how is Lord Stanley doing? And how are you doing??
110.
Comrade Luke
Cat update: She’s supposedly eating again. They’ll keep her overnight for observation, and if everything goes smoothly they’ll take her off the IV and I can take her home.
If only they could talk and let you know what’s wrong…
I have a package of ferret treats in my pantry. I haven’t had a ferret since my last one died of liver cancer in 2008.
I have four cats, and now a dog too. I think I’ll always have pets not just for the companionship, but because if I ever have to say goodbye to one and there isn’t another nearby to comfort me, you can stick a fork in me, because I’ll be done.
Tunch was a magnificent bastard indeed. Mourn him any way you have to.
The actor will replace Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne in the upcoming untitled Superman-Batman feature for Warner Bros., the studio announced Thursday.
122.
GregB
Time heals all wounds Mr. Cole. Grief is a process let it work.
As for Antoinette Tuff, the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a very understanding and unarmed woman with a constitution or steel.
Suck on that LaPierre, you French surrender monkey.
123.
Joy
Same thing for my Abby (who appeared in all three previous Pets of Balloon Juice calendar). She died in January from a hemangiosarcoma of the spleen. But the picture of the furminator — it reminds me of when you posted about it. I ordered it and and it was Abby’s favorite grooming tool. She was a Golden Retriever and I think she felt liberated after “furminating”. Good memories of Tunch which brought this all about. You never forget, John, not if you truly loved. I’ve had friends whose animals died and it was a bump in the road to them. I was traumatized when Abby died because I loved her that much and she died so suddenly and unexpectedly. Like you, I adopted again. Abby is never gone from my heart or mind, but the new little guy is filling a huge void in my life. When I think of her I always put my hand over my heart and take a deep breath. It balances me and BTW, I’m old enough, but not a hippie (not that there is anything wrong with that) I just love animals and anyone who doesn’t give a shit about animals is suspicious to me.
124.
SiubhanDuinne
@gogol’s wife: (Weird, my first reply to you just disappeared.) Thank you for this comment. I think it’s quite wonderful the way we all worry about and support each other.
125.
Bonnie
Love the pictures! Thank you. I understand your pain and am still very sorry for your loss.
We miss him with ya, John. He is truly a beautiful kitty. Sorry and damn.
127.
Jane2
@Joy: I forgot about the pic with the Furmitator…but that pic with Tunch and a mini-Tunch worth of hair spurred me to order one as well. My ragdolls have looked fab ever since and I swear I take a mini-Tunch out of them every time I furminate.
128.
JW
John, I’m so sorry about Tunch. I had to put down my favorite cat the other month ’cause of an inoperable tumor. Oh, golly. I still see her out of the corners of my eyes. I don’t expect to ever get over it. Sometimes life’s a bad bitch.
It’s been a long summer for me, too John, but my reasons are not as tangible as yours with losing Tunch. Although I swear he started the avalanche of grief I’ve been feeling. Doing good works even now, that floofy boy is.
And this week the hits keep coming, I just lost a dear friend to cancer that was so fast, I didn’t even know she was sick until she was almost gone.
Tears are good, cleansing, healing. Or at least that’s what I keep telling myself.
And I still say it looks like that cat sat on Garfield.
130.
farmette
I felt this way about our cat, Peco Bob. He was healthy and large in life and we called him Fat Lightning when he would occasionally run (short spurts) across the field. One day he stood at the door of our bedroom with an anxious and sad look on his face, holding up one paw. Took him to the vet. X-rays showed he had bone cancer and destruction of the bone in his sternum. I miss Peco. He was a big orange tabby with a big kitty heart. They are so special.
He wasn’t just your cat. He was your friend. You will feel loss because he was your friend. He was always underfoot, or always there whichever way you like to think. He depended on you and for that you got a friend. Celebrate his life, morn his going, and allow yourself to cry when you need to.
And to bring back a little laughter in your life, someone just sent me this gem.
I miss him, too, Cole. I have a folder of his pictures that I haven’t been able to open. I saw the name on the folder today and nearly cried. He will always be with you, but it’s hard not to miss his physical presence. He was a prince among cats. And now I’m tearing up again. Hugs to you, Cole.
It has been a year now since our beloved Josephine the Cat did not come home one day. I still look for her as I drive down the last block of before the house, hoping she will as she always was be sitting on the sidewalk of the neighbor’s house watching for me, and greeting me as I come home. I sill reflexively walk to the rear of the car as the garage door closes, looking to make sure the door clears the end of the car, but also hoping to suddenly see her just outside, looking at me with reproach because I am closing the door without waiting till she could come in and go into the house with me through the garage.
Losing Jo was like losing a four year old child. She and her brother Buckaroo Banzai (Bucky) were only just weaned when we got them. We bonded closer with them I think than any other cats we have had, and I have had cats my entire life except for the few years in grad school and living abroad. When we first got her, she was so small she could fit in the proverbial teacup. She slept at night curled up on my shoulder when we first went to bed. The last few years she would join me in bed every night to loll across my lap as I read or watched TV. She was smart, had a sense of humor, played with me, literally set up jokes on me, staked out my office chairs as her’s at certain times of the day. The last pictures I have of her are in my downstairs office chair, stretching and cutting up for me, showing off because she was telling me she beat me to it and did not want to yield ownership.
So true. Even more than 30 years later, the loss of a loved one can still bring both smiles and sadness.
140.
Chaplain Weasle
He was an awesome cat, and as you can see we ALL miss him too…
The funny thing about grief is it isn’t so much a series of “steps” or “stages”, as it is a journey on a winding path that isn’t always clear where it is going… sometimes it loops back onto itself just when we think we can see the edge of the woods, taking us back to a dark part — sometimes even the darkest part of the forest, where sadness & depression grab hold of our guts and make us cry our eyes out — and other times we’re right at the edge of the forest, near a clearing, where we feel acceptance & think fondly of the one we miss everyday, even if we don’t actively think about them.
The good thing is John, you aren’t on that path alone… just let us know, and we’ll share with you where we are… that is if we don’t bump into you as we walk the path ourselves ;)
BJ is a wonderful gift at times like this… thanks.
Not to insert my beliefs here, but Tunch STILL is a magnificent, fat bastard, and Walhalla is enjoying his presence where he IS large & in charge.
“Its the unknown we fear when we look upon death and darkness, nothing more.”
— Albus P.W.B. Dumbledore
141.
shelly
I always loved his coloring. You’d assume he was all white, and then would come that magnificent tail.
I still have occasional sniffly moments remembering Ben, who had to be put down five years ago. But at least I’ve stopped waking up in the middle of the night thinking I just felt him curl up next to me.
I adopted a pup back in June from a no-kill shelter in NC. The day before I was to pick him up (he needed vaccines and neutering) they called and said he had died. I cried for the first time in years. I had only spent one hour with the little guy before signing the papers.
Apparently that’s all it takes.
John summoned the courage to go out and find Steve. So I sucked it up and went back to the shelters.Best move I ever made.
145.
Lurker
John, the pain will pass and you’ll be left with the wonderful memories. Six years ago, I lost my kitteh Gatsby — the love of my life — and I cried and mourned him and did not know how I was going to live without him. Today, the pain has eased, and every time I look at his pictures, I smile and remember how lovely, loving, funny, and playful he was.
It’s a long slog, John. But there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Tunch was indeed magnificent and I cried my heart out when I found out about his premature demise. Rest assured that the BJ community loved that fantastic fat one and that it is all behind you in support.
Give a cuddle to Steve and the girls. Oh! And plant some beautiful flowers on the magnificent one’s grave.
146.
EthylEster
why is there a pizza wheel beside the furminator in one of the pics?
i mean, did you groom Tunch with a pizza wheel?
Comments are closed.
Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!
Ted & Hellen
:(
You’ll never be completely done…but the space in between jags will get longer.
:(
Daffodil's Mom
You’ll never stop missing him, John, or hurting. The acute waves will recede — they always do — and you’ll just learn to live with it; it’ll become a part of you and you’ll end up smiling at how great he was, right through your pain.
raven
I think this applies:
schrodinger's cat
I miss him too. So many times I have typed a comment asking about the Tunchinator and have stopped myself from pressing enter.
{{{{John Cole}}}}
Thanks for Tunch photos! Fat bastard was fat and magnificent
ETA: What are those instruments of torture near Tunch in photo#2
Josie
No, you won’t be done for a long time. It creeps up on you and surprises you sometimes. Grief is like that – not just for animals, but for any loss. You just have to let it have its way with you and get to the other side. Over and over. I don’t mean for it to sound depressing. It isn’t. It is just a part of life.
Baud
I still miss my first dog.
CatHairEverywhere
Oh, Tunch- what a pretty boy. I still tear up when I think about my Max who was killed by a neighbor dog, and that was over twenty years ago. It does get better, but there is no shame in missing your furry friend.
Msskwesq
This post made me cry. Again. Damn it. That was one special kitty!
auntie beak
aw, dude. i was already weepy because of the final thursday basset blogging, and now you gone and made me weepier…
raven
Raven died over five years ago. I lit a mexican votive candle on his grave every day for a year. Now he has a permanent light, a statue of a cocker, a buddah and a St Christopher.
mellowjohn
my wife still tears up over a cat that died more than 15 years ago. (he was pretty terrific.)
i’m going to be a wreck when our maine coon shuffles off this mortal coil. (he’s pretty terrific, too.)
in the 25 years we’ve been together, we’ve had probably close to 20 cats pass thru (we peaked at 9). some i loved dearly. some i just tolerated. but it’s always hard to lose one, no matter how you felt about them.
mourn the fat bastard at your leisure, cole. he was definitely worth it.
kc
What a handsome kitteh he was.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@schrodinger’s cat: One of them is a Furminator.
HR Progressive
We miss him too.
It’s truly amazing how much we all miss him, even though almost all of us never even got to meet him.
Emma
My first dog died more than twenty years ago. I still dream about her. They never leave you. Ever.
And Tunchie was one beautiful cat.
Comrade Luke
My cat’s at the vet for the second time in a week. Last week they discovered a lump under her tongue, which thankfully turned out to be a ruptured salivary duct as opposed to a tumor. They fixed her up, but she hasn’t eaten much at all in the week since, and has lost a whole pound.
I’ve had pets my whole life, and this is the best one I’ve ever had. I’m starting to get a a little freaked out that the doctor hasn’t called yet.
donnah
That’s tough, John. I have shared my life with several dogs and cats, and they each have a special part of my memories. I can still clearly remember what it was like when our family dog was near passing, and he waited until I got back to my parent’s house before he gave up. I still cry when I remember.
Tunch was a wonderful beast. He’s never going to leave you and that’s okay.
NotMax
Perhaps an ancient yarn about the widow whose two beloved, elderly dogs expired within a day of one another will cheer you up a tiny bit.
She couldn’t envision living without them in the house, so quickly arranged for a taxidermist to come over for a consultation. After a short discussion, a price for his services was agreed upon.
About to leave, the taxidermist turned and asked, “Oh, just one last thing. Would you like them mounted?”
Answered she, “No. Shaking hands will be sufficient.”
Suzanne
I still miss my Nico (the best cat ever) every day. It’s okay, John.
Have yourself some ice cream and be nice to yourself.
Odie Hugh Manatee
You’ll never get over it but eventually the fondest memories will be the only ones that you remember. Tunch left you with lots of those memories, cherish them. He truly was a magnificent cat and you were the lucky guy who got to be his life friend.
That pic of him on his back always looked like the “Help, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up! of cat pictures…lol!
ruemara
You never stop missing them. It’s part of loving them. But you do stop crying at some point. Hang in there.
SiubhanDuinne
He was such a wonderful cat. And dammit, he made me totally agree with Ted and Hellen. That’s just wrong.
The magic of Tunch was that he had a worldwide (“wide,” heh) fan club of probably hundreds and hundreds of BJ subscribers. I will make a confession here: when I got my iPad2 in June 2011, I set up a photo file called “Tunch and Piglets.” At this point it has (pauses mid-comment to go and check the album) (okay, I’m back) nearly 70 photos of Tunch, Lily and Rosie — and now Steve. But I would estimate that 45-50 of them are of Tunch. The album cover is that awesome photo of him outside the screen door, with glowing green eyes. As Charlotte might have webbed, “SOME CAT.”
KmCO
Beautiful cat. RIP sweet boy.
schrodinger's cat
He made the blog awesome! I came over from Sullivan’s Daily Dish but stayed because of Tunch!.
JPL
Hopefully it is okay to miss them. I still haven’t vacuumed up some of Miss Moxie’s hair. I’ve had a lot of pets and this is the first one that I buried her ashes in the yard. She just loved the yard so much. I not only buried them but when friends come to visit, I make them come and see where. It’s true that time helps but you will always miss Tunch. Give Steve a hug.
Mike-in-Oly
We lost our big, fat, loverboy,Tuck 5 years ago. Sometimes the grief is overwhleming. It only gets easier because you can go longer between remembering. The loss is just as painful now as it was then. Just less frantic with worry. Tunch was an awesome kitty. He deserved to die from old age and an excess of spoiling.
manyakitty
He was a magnificent beast with a spectacular tail. No reason to love him any less now than before.
Litlebritdifrnt
You will never get over mourning him John, that is just the way us idiot humans are. We have to get used to it. When my beloved dog Sox lost her ability to walk after her back legs would no longer work we built her a wheelchair of sorts so that she could still get around. She hated it, and basically decided it was time to go. I wasn’t wiling to let her go but she said “fuck it I am not living this way”. That was ten years ago and I still look at her grave and weep silently from time to time. There is going to be a moment that reminds you of Tunch that you are going to smile and then weep. It is just the way we are. It is okay. Steve will take away a little bit of the hurt but he will never replace Tunch because he is not Tunch, nor could he ever hope to be. Steve is Steve, he can fill a little bit of a hole in your heart where Tunch used to be but he can never completely fill that hole. Flossie fills the Judy hole about 75%, and Skeeter fills the Cueball hole about 75%, but there is always that bit of me that wishes I had Judy and Cueball back in the house and wrecking the place.
manyakitty
@Comrade Luke: xo and best wishes for your kitty.
SiubhanDuinne
@manyakitty:
Fixed for accuracy.
MikeJ
I will never understand why Obama had him killed.
Yatsuno
:: hug :: I’ll make sure wifey knows you put this up when I get home.
manyakitty
@schrodinger’s cat: Sully’s posts about Dusty and the whole “Last Lessons We Learn from Our Pets” thing, taken with Tunch and the aftermath have pretty much ensured that I cry at work several times a week.
JPL
You will start remembering the funny and not so funny times though. Before Miss Moxie, I had a golden and sharpei that caused havoc. I walked into my house one time with a friend and a nice chunk of the oriental was missing. After staring in disbelief, I said Karen help me turn this around so I can put this side under the sofa. Problem fixed. I still have the rug cuz the ex didn’t want it because of the imperfections. What he called imperfections, I called memories.
manyakitty
@SiubhanDuinne: Point taken. Spectacular, nevertheless.
gogol's wife
Beautiful pictures. I hope you keep doing Tunch posts every once in a while. I love seeing him.
SiubhanDuinne
@MikeJ:
Duh. Tunch was white.
Robin
I don’t know if this will reach you, but on my way home from work on Monday I noticed this tiny white kitten that had been dumped along the road. It had the same markings as Tunch, but was all white w gray ears and a gray stripey tail. I picked her and her calico sister up, took them home and fed them, and then we had to take them to a shelter (allergic son and two energetic beagles). She was starving and covered in fleas, and weighed nothing, but she had a sweet personality. She knew she needed help along that road and made sure her even tinier sister was picked up too. Within minutes of being fed she curled around her sissy and was purring like a machine. I really hope they get adopted. My husband made a donation at the shelter. If I wasn’t such a Luddite I would figure out how to post a pic.
JPL
@SiubhanDuinne: haha
SiubhanDuinne
@manyakitty: No question. Cat knew how to shop.
SiubhanDuinne
@JPL: :-)
raven
@Robin: He doesn’t read this shit.
Litlebritdifrnt
For anyone that feels like it Antoinette Tuff has a fundraising page for needy kids, she was asking for $1,500 the total so far is $10K. This woman deserves whatever money we can throw at her.
http://www.gofundme.com/41fqvw
Felonius Monk
I think of him often, John, because my next door neighbor cat, a feline that goes by the name of Miss Tilly could easily pass for Tunch’s twin sister (although I think Tilly has a little more avoirdupois than Tunch did). She is particularly fond of lounging/napping on our back porch, so every time we startle each other I am immediately reminded of “His Magnificence”.
WereBear
It hurts… but this is how they stay with us.
Works out.
SiubhanDuinne
@Litlebritdifrnt: That is awe to the fucking some.
JPL
@Litlebritdifrnt: It’s 15,000 now. She has a handicapped child so she understands the needs of others.
Elie
Its been three years for my Bill this Sept 2. I look at the place he was to put to rest in my arms — a little cubby off the top of the stairs with a big window. I held him in his favorite afghan (crocheted by my aunt), and watched him go — bitching all the way — MY BILL.
I will always miss him — always… and Max years before him. But Bill was my boy — my Mr Personality who could literally walk on the top of open doors when he was in his prime.
You don’t forget John… in some ways, I encourage you to enjoy the pain or at least the measure of what Tunch meant to you. That was very special and you will never ever forget him….
Litlebritdifrnt
@JPL: @JPL:
Whoot now at $17K.
Felinious Wench
He was a beautiful, magnificent, epic, one-of-a-kind example of the superiority of our feline overlords. His spirit is noe and forevermore part of this community. We all loved him.
Jane2
Tunch was a magnificent kitty, and a part of your family. My Trixie got cancer a year ago, and I still miss her sometimes as if it just happened.
MazeDancer
Love lasts forever.
Thank you for the pictures, John. What a splendid, wonderful cat.
Pogonip
I still miss a cat that died almost 45 years ago, so don’t feel silly, John.
JPL
@Litlebritdifrnt: Was she on TV? It’s climbing so fast that someone mentioned it. She’s a bookkeeper for the school but had started this organization on the side.
raven
@JPL: Obama called her.
Litlebritdifrnt
@JPL:
She was on Anderson Cooper, I think that has done it.
? Martin
Maddow is doing great work on this NC voting issue. You really should all be watching this.
Litlebritdifrnt
@Litlebritdifrnt:
20k now.
JPL
@raven: That was so cool. There is another Obama story in the NYTimes if you can read it. Long story short, during DDay celebrations one of the parachuters met the President. The next time the President saw him was in Walter Reed. The young man had gone to Afghanistan and had terrible brain injuries. Just recently, he saw him again in Phoenix. It’s a two tissue story btw. link He’s going to meet him a fourth time in the White House.
Why hasn’t the NRA commented on the Decatur school incident?
LittlePig
He was a dandy, and lived one helluva life. I’ve had more than a few like that, all buried in the back yard. Just love on Steve a while, you’ll feel better.
raven
@JPL: That’s great
Litlebritdifrnt
@? Martin:
Maddow is doing the best work. Colin Powell called out McCrory today and basically told him he was full of shit. That was sweet. I really wonder how many time that Powell has to tell the Republican Party that they are racist sacks of shit, until they actually get the fact that they are racist sacks of shit.
kc
@SiubhanDuinne:
That is cool! Especially since the recent WP issues deleted a lot of the pics from this blog.
Mike in NC
Nope. That never happens. Damn critters.
SiubhanDuinne
@JPL:
I know, right? It’s not like there’s anything there that TOTALLY PUTS THE LIE TO THEIR PREFERRED NARRATIVE. Oops, sorry for being all shouty.
LittlePig
Ralph, one of my old black cats, used to wake me up (“breakfast time!”) by putting a single claw into my lower lip and pushing. Worked every time. I’ve talked to other people who have had black cats do the same thing.
Black cats seem to instinctively try to cut you off as you walk (moreso than generic cats it appears to me). I think that’s part of the whole ‘bad luck’ rap they get.
Clara, my 20 year old tabby (“Cthulhu’s kitty”, as my son describes her) has a habit of that, but I just chalk that up to her other commentary (aka shitting under the computer chair when the litter is substandard, pissing on my jeans if I leave them on the floor, etc.)
Sam
These feeling can come bubbling up when we least expect them. Especially with the other stuff you have mentioned that is going on in your life…
It happens to me all the time and it makes me feel better to hold a little tighter to me other fuzzy little critters. They aren’t the same, but they sure are good company and it helps.
Mike in NC
@Litlebritdifrnt:
Powell = RINO, of course. He still has much to atone for.
p.a.
Ouch. Well saying it’s supposed to hurt doesn’t make it hurt less. Despite bad mouthing your photo skills, you have lots of great shots of Tunch.
SiubhanDuinne
@kc: Oh, I didn’t even know that! Now I’m extra glad I saved so many photos when I did (despite feeling like a member of the TunchFanGrrlzKoolKlub the entire time).
Carrie
Not a pet but today is the 3rd anniversary of my daddy’s death. He was my hero and my friend, i was very lucky to spend the last 2 years of his life living with him and my mom full time, hanging out in the garage just building furniture and having a couple of beers after 3 o’clock every day.
Love you dad, think about you all the time.
JPL
@Mike in NC: Interesting factoid, although Powell was raised in the Harlem his wife is from Birmingham. I had the privilege of meeting them both and she is one classy lady.
edited..
Yatsuno
@JPL: Alma Powell single-handedly kept her husband out of the White House. She pretty much predicted every single reaction Obama is getting now including the obstructionist Congress. I think she made a decent call there.
SiubhanDuinne
@JPL: I met him (briefly, in a kind of receiving line after a speech he gave), never met Alma. But she always seemed like a very classy woman.
LittlePig
@Sam: These feeling can come bubbling up when we least expect them.
Hell, I got weepy today at a work function (a retirement party) when he was telling cat stories. Having lived with cats continuously since 1969 I’ve got quite the reservoir.
Citizen_X
That last pic is a fine portrait.
James Hare
Persephone died so long ago that my next cat is now almost 5. I still miss her. They never really leave us.
ruemara
@? Martin: I am. Goddess, I could puke from rage. Fucking rage.
JPL
@Yatsuno: It helped that the extremist in the party wrote information about her taking antidepressants at one time. Now the extremists are the party.
Baud
@ruemara:
That’s why I had to turn it off.
SiubhanDuinne
@Carrie: Hugs to you, too. My dad died almost 19 years ago, and I still feel his loss very keenly. In a few days I’m coming up on what would have been his 99th birthday, and my mother’s 96th (their birthdays were a day apart). They are always very much with me especially around the time of their birthdays, and on their death anniversaries.
Citizen_X
@JPL:
Obviously, because it’s a dastardly plot by Obama to make us rely on our wits.
I kid, but you know the Decatur school truthers are coming.
? Martin
@ruemara: Nice dig there asking why the historically black college is seeing all of these changes and challenges, but the white christian school nearby isn’t seeing any.
Anyone have any guesses why that might be?
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
Our animal companions leave such big paw prints on our hearts.
Yatsuno
@? Martin: They make better cookies?
JPL
John, BTW if you didn’t miss him, you wouldn’t be human.
NotMax
@? Martin
Sunspots?
SiubhanDuinne
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q):
Okay, don’t do that any more. I was all done being weepy and you started the waterworks up again. Stop it, mmkay??
raven
@JPL: He doesn’t read this shit.
? Martin
And I would like to note, for the record, that Antoinette Tuff has more courage than the entirety of the NRAs membership combined.
S
Lost my Dalmation, Lucky, on Valentine’s Day, 2013. Still tear up at the thought that she is gone. We think of our fur kids, current and past, daily but then out of nowhere the grief just crushes you for a while. Don’t understand it but it must mean something.
Carrie
@SiubhanDuinne:
Thanks Siubhan, yes those landmarks always seem to loom in front of you and you start noticing a month before, a week before, then the day before the pre-grief starts…it does get easier but i always seem to give
myself about 2 hours of heavy grief (bawling, sappy email sending and endless youtubes of sappy songs) on the anniversary of their deaths.
Sorry all, going back to watching
youtubes…
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@JPL: Thanks for the awesome NYT story.
John Cole
@raven: You know nothing, John Snow.
I read far more than you realize, I just don’t always comment. I can’t read every comment, but I read more than I am willing to admit. And, btw:
@JPL: Thank you.
John Cole
@Carrie: I am sorry.
BillinGlendaleCA
@? Martin: Cause Obama didn’t get a white dog?
JPL
@Carrie: I was panicked that my youngest would be born on the same day my father died because I didn’t think I’d be able to celebrate his birthday. He was born a day later and is now 34. It takes a long time. It’s okay.
lamh36
@Litlebritdifrnt: along the same vein:
Finally, a petition I’m happy to sign right now!!!
Antoinette Tuff for The Presidential Medal of Freedom
Roger Moore
@JPL:
It doesn’t follow the narrative, so it doesn’t exist.
SiubhanDuinne
@? Martin: Her name is so perfect.
JPL
@SiubhanDuinne: The NRA is probably peeking through her windows to see if she has granite countertops, as I type.
Carrie
@John Cole:
Thank you, and i’m soo sorry for your loss. I was away at the cottage most of the summer and i didn’t find out what happened to the big guy until it seemed like it was too late to offer my condolences. Stupid and selfish of me, i know.
Tunch was a glorious, full bodied ball of love with a humongous fan club.
Patricia Kayden
Dang was Tunch fat!
Of course, you’re going to have periods when you mourn his loss. I would think that’s something that you’ll always have to deal with. It’s nice that you have so many photos and videos to remember him by.
Jill
John, the other night I was in my old home town for a company outing and when I drove past the house I grew up in, I thought about our poodle Wooleyburger who wandered off at the age of 13 in 1979 and was hit by a car. She’s buried under the willow tree in the backyard. I had to pull over and cry for a while. And that was 34 years ago. She was that great a dog.
Roger Moore
@Yatsuno:
FTFY.
newdealfarmgrrrlll
sitting here with a lump in my throat … gawdamighty, Tuncheroo was magnificent! He exudes personality right thru those pics. Cats like that don’t appear too often in our lifetimes. Your grief is a tribute to his awesomeness.
Makes me miss our TwitchyTail Furball who was also one of those Personality Cats. He’s been gone five years (cancer of the jaw at age fifteen) and my daughters and i still reminisce about him, and get weepy together. We loved the other cats we had at the same time, and mourned them as they each in turn died of old age, but it’s ol’ Twitcheroo who still gets me weepy because i miss him so.
Carrie
@JPL:
I know exactly what you mean.
JenJen
We miss him so much, too, John. :-(
I still cry for Stu, Strider, and Joey. It really never ends. They are with you forever, which is actually a blessing, even when it doesn’t feel like it.
SiubhanDuinne
@JenJen: I’ve been hoping to see you, to ask how is Lord Stanley doing? And how are you doing??
Comrade Luke
Cat update: She’s supposedly eating again. They’ll keep her overnight for observation, and if everything goes smoothly they’ll take her off the IV and I can take her home.
If only they could talk and let you know what’s wrong…
gogol's wife
@raven:
Those of us who were making lighthearted jokes about lox last night discovered that he does.
gogol's wife
@SiubhanDuinne:
I hope she answers this. I may have to read it in the morning. I’m sleepy. But Gex has been asking too, and we haven’t seen any reply.
? Martin
So, the NSA review panel is reported to include:
Peter Swire
Michael Morell
Richard Clarke
Cass Sunstein
That’s a pretty good list to start with.
Yatsuno
@Patricia Kayden: TUNCH WAS NOT FAT!!! He was floofy. Dammit. :P
@Roger Moore: I knew I had a better term. I blame delinquent taxpayers. They eat my brain one cell at a time I swear.
scav
@gogol’s wife: Isn’t JC telling us he hates us rather a purr? Maybe more of that kneading thing, especially when they still have claws.
Gin & Tonic
@gogol’s wife: Norwegian smoked salmon, dammit! With sprouts!
ruemara
@? Martin: Lack of tanning booths? The Christian School has less heathen coffee? One can only guess.
Gin & Tonic
@? Martin: It would be a pretty good list if you crossed off the bottom three.
Yatsuno
@ruemara:
All coffee should be heathen. It was discovered by Moooslims after all.
Karen in GA
I have a package of ferret treats in my pantry. I haven’t had a ferret since my last one died of liver cancer in 2008.
I have four cats, and now a dog too. I think I’ll always have pets not just for the companionship, but because if I ever have to say goodbye to one and there isn’t another nearby to comfort me, you can stick a fork in me, because I’ll be done.
Tunch was a magnificent bastard indeed. Mourn him any way you have to.
Soonergrunt
This just in–Ben Affleck is the new Batman:
GregB
Time heals all wounds Mr. Cole. Grief is a process let it work.
As for Antoinette Tuff, the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a very understanding and unarmed woman with a constitution or steel.
Suck on that LaPierre, you French surrender monkey.
Joy
Same thing for my Abby (who appeared in all three previous Pets of Balloon Juice calendar). She died in January from a hemangiosarcoma of the spleen. But the picture of the furminator — it reminds me of when you posted about it. I ordered it and and it was Abby’s favorite grooming tool. She was a Golden Retriever and I think she felt liberated after “furminating”. Good memories of Tunch which brought this all about. You never forget, John, not if you truly loved. I’ve had friends whose animals died and it was a bump in the road to them. I was traumatized when Abby died because I loved her that much and she died so suddenly and unexpectedly. Like you, I adopted again. Abby is never gone from my heart or mind, but the new little guy is filling a huge void in my life. When I think of her I always put my hand over my heart and take a deep breath. It balances me and BTW, I’m old enough, but not a hippie (not that there is anything wrong with that) I just love animals and anyone who doesn’t give a shit about animals is suspicious to me.
SiubhanDuinne
@gogol’s wife: (Weird, my first reply to you just disappeared.) Thank you for this comment. I think it’s quite wonderful the way we all worry about and support each other.
Bonnie
Love the pictures! Thank you. I understand your pain and am still very sorry for your loss.
LT
We miss him with ya, John. He is truly a beautiful kitty. Sorry and damn.
Jane2
@Joy: I forgot about the pic with the Furmitator…but that pic with Tunch and a mini-Tunch worth of hair spurred me to order one as well. My ragdolls have looked fab ever since and I swear I take a mini-Tunch out of them every time I furminate.
JW
John, I’m so sorry about Tunch. I had to put down my favorite cat the other month ’cause of an inoperable tumor. Oh, golly. I still see her out of the corners of my eyes. I don’t expect to ever get over it. Sometimes life’s a bad bitch.
TaMara (BHF)
It’s been a long summer for me, too John, but my reasons are not as tangible as yours with losing Tunch. Although I swear he started the avalanche of grief I’ve been feeling. Doing good works even now, that floofy boy is.
And this week the hits keep coming, I just lost a dear friend to cancer that was so fast, I didn’t even know she was sick until she was almost gone.
Tears are good, cleansing, healing. Or at least that’s what I keep telling myself.
And I still say it looks like that cat sat on Garfield.
farmette
I felt this way about our cat, Peco Bob. He was healthy and large in life and we called him Fat Lightning when he would occasionally run (short spurts) across the field. One day he stood at the door of our bedroom with an anxious and sad look on his face, holding up one paw. Took him to the vet. X-rays showed he had bone cancer and destruction of the bone in his sternum. I miss Peco. He was a big orange tabby with a big kitty heart. They are so special.
Ruckus
He wasn’t just your cat. He was your friend. You will feel loss because he was your friend. He was always underfoot, or always there whichever way you like to think. He depended on you and for that you got a friend. Celebrate his life, morn his going, and allow yourself to cry when you need to.
And to bring back a little laughter in your life, someone just sent me this gem.
asiangrrlMN
I miss him, too, Cole. I have a folder of his pictures that I haven’t been able to open. I saw the name on the folder today and nearly cried. He will always be with you, but it’s hard not to miss his physical presence. He was a prince among cats. And now I’m tearing up again. Hugs to you, Cole.
@Comrade Luke: Good luck to you. Hope all is OK!
@JW: Sorry for your loss. It’s so hard.
@Yatsuno: Thanks, hon.
Yatsuno
@TaMara (BHF): Cancer sucks.
manyakitty
@Comrade Luke: Yay!
manyakitty
@Carrie: That’s a tough one. I’m so sorry.
raven
@John Cole: Wow, I’m honored!
Montarvillois
Strange as it may seem, I miss him too.
HeartlandLiberal
It has been a year now since our beloved Josephine the Cat did not come home one day. I still look for her as I drive down the last block of before the house, hoping she will as she always was be sitting on the sidewalk of the neighbor’s house watching for me, and greeting me as I come home. I sill reflexively walk to the rear of the car as the garage door closes, looking to make sure the door clears the end of the car, but also hoping to suddenly see her just outside, looking at me with reproach because I am closing the door without waiting till she could come in and go into the house with me through the garage.
Losing Jo was like losing a four year old child. She and her brother Buckaroo Banzai (Bucky) were only just weaned when we got them. We bonded closer with them I think than any other cats we have had, and I have had cats my entire life except for the few years in grad school and living abroad. When we first got her, she was so small she could fit in the proverbial teacup. She slept at night curled up on my shoulder when we first went to bed. The last few years she would join me in bed every night to loll across my lap as I read or watched TV. She was smart, had a sense of humor, played with me, literally set up jokes on me, staked out my office chairs as her’s at certain times of the day. The last pictures I have of her are in my downstairs office chair, stretching and cutting up for me, showing off because she was telling me she beat me to it and did not want to yield ownership.
We miss her still, and always will.
debbie
@raven:
So true. Even more than 30 years later, the loss of a loved one can still bring both smiles and sadness.
Chaplain Weasle
He was an awesome cat, and as you can see we ALL miss him too…
The funny thing about grief is it isn’t so much a series of “steps” or “stages”, as it is a journey on a winding path that isn’t always clear where it is going… sometimes it loops back onto itself just when we think we can see the edge of the woods, taking us back to a dark part — sometimes even the darkest part of the forest, where sadness & depression grab hold of our guts and make us cry our eyes out — and other times we’re right at the edge of the forest, near a clearing, where we feel acceptance & think fondly of the one we miss everyday, even if we don’t actively think about them.
The good thing is John, you aren’t on that path alone… just let us know, and we’ll share with you where we are… that is if we don’t bump into you as we walk the path ourselves ;)
BJ is a wonderful gift at times like this… thanks.
Not to insert my beliefs here, but Tunch STILL is a magnificent, fat bastard, and Walhalla is enjoying his presence where he IS large & in charge.
“Its the unknown we fear when we look upon death and darkness, nothing more.”
— Albus P.W.B. Dumbledore
shelly
I always loved his coloring. You’d assume he was all white, and then would come that magnificent tail.
Hunter
I still have occasional sniffly moments remembering Ben, who had to be put down five years ago. But at least I’ve stopped waking up in the middle of the night thinking I just felt him curl up next to me.
sbjules
@Biden knowraven:
Mr_Gravity
I adopted a pup back in June from a no-kill shelter in NC. The day before I was to pick him up (he needed vaccines and neutering) they called and said he had died. I cried for the first time in years. I had only spent one hour with the little guy before signing the papers.
Apparently that’s all it takes.
John summoned the courage to go out and find Steve. So I sucked it up and went back to the shelters.Best move I ever made.
Lurker
John, the pain will pass and you’ll be left with the wonderful memories. Six years ago, I lost my kitteh Gatsby — the love of my life — and I cried and mourned him and did not know how I was going to live without him. Today, the pain has eased, and every time I look at his pictures, I smile and remember how lovely, loving, funny, and playful he was.
It’s a long slog, John. But there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Tunch was indeed magnificent and I cried my heart out when I found out about his premature demise. Rest assured that the BJ community loved that fantastic fat one and that it is all behind you in support.
Give a cuddle to Steve and the girls. Oh! And plant some beautiful flowers on the magnificent one’s grave.
EthylEster
why is there a pizza wheel beside the furminator in one of the pics?
i mean, did you groom Tunch with a pizza wheel?