Pasqua is Six Months Old Today!

Happy St Patrick's Day, Readers!

We are celebrating all day long. Not just for St Patrick, the sheep herder, and patron saint of Ireland (although, he wasn't actually Irish! Interesting fun-fact!), we celebrate also today because Pasqua is now six months old!

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Did you know that St Patrick's real name is believed to be Maewyn Succat, but when he became a priest he changed his name to Patrick? Look at his real name, though: Succat. Isn't that something?

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Another coincidence we take note of today: when Italian-American males are named Pasqua or Pasquale, their nickname very commonly is Pat. These coincidences on the day we celebrate St Patrick and our little Pasqua Scheggiare are not accidents, and we believe they are signals from God to remind us that we are truly blessed.

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At six months old, these are some of Pasqua's favorite things:

• treats
• my food (he prefers it over his kitten food!)
• a little grey mouse we named Grigio (not to be confused with my beloved Verdi)
• napping/sleeping
• playing peek-a-boo and fetch
• cuddling with mamma
• hiding with me when visitors come over (I am teaching him this habit to our mom's disappointment)
• sun puddling
• looking out the windows and glass doors
• hanging out with mamma when she works from home

And some of our favorite photos:

They named him "Chip" at the Cat Sanctuary where we adopted him from.

It is not safe to refill my food container in Pasqua's presence.

Playing fetch (Grigio is in Pasqua's mouth).

Enjoying the view from the sun room.

He sleeps a lot in the most adorable poses. Example 1.

Example 2 - how is that even comfortable?

Six month portrait.  Getting so big!

I offer this Irish Blessing for all of you: "May you have love that never ends, lots of money, and lots of friends. Health be yours, whatever you do, and may God send many blessings to you!"

Purr & Paw,
-Stivali.

7 months feels like a lifetime...

Mamma and I do not like knowing how much time has passed since my big brother died.
The 10-15 minutes before his death were traumatic and Mamma replays it over and over in her mind and it is debilitating.

I am trying to be more fun for her so she is not so sad.

I still don't like being held, which I know is hard for her since she was accustomed to how much my big brother liked being carried around in her arms.

Do you know he died in her arms? That was his favorite place to be.

I hope she realizes that and finds comfort in knowing he would not have wanted it any other way.
She is sad because she felt numb as he was crossing. She wasn't even petting him and was only holding him - both motionless. 
A sadness she cannot get out of her mind. 

Today is August 26. Marking 7 months. We have now been living in our new home longer than Stray Cat was alive in it. That feels depressing.

It is a warm summer day, we have the windows open and doors open; screens allow me to breathe in fresh air.  I smell lotsa smells from outside.  Smells I know Stray Cat would lift his little nose to. We are sad that he is not here to enjoy the new town, the new house, and all it has to offer us on such a warm summer day.

We wonder if he can see us from heaven. If he knows how sad we are without him here. We wonder if he realizes how much we love him still and how much we ache in his absence.  He provided both of us such joy. He was such a funny affectionate loving cat.  We miss him. We hope he knows how much we love him - and pray he realized it when he was here with us. 

I try to make mamma laugh. I bring her Verdi daily.  I hide under Stray Cat's blanket on his favorite orange chair. I try to do silly things so I can hear her laughing.  I do not cuddle with her, but I do sit near her every day.  I even go to bed next to her although I won't touch her.  Hopefully, she knows I love her, and this is how I show it. 

Where's Stivali? 

There she is! 

I am a good hider.

Cute old photo of my big brother, Stray Cat.

This is me and my big brother when I first moved in with them back in 2010.

There's a really beautiful song our friend, Lynda, told us about. It helps.  Here are some of the lyrics... and a YouTube video so you can hear it if you wanna: YouTube video

"Honey, I thought you should know, that I'm in a hurry. I've got to move up north, but it's just temporary. I really tried not to lie. But this burdens getting heavy. No, you can't come with me this time, you got your own destiny.

But Heaven's not too far away, I know someday you'll visit. And I didn't think I'd go this way, can I please have one more minute? No honey, I don't want to go, please know that I have to. I think it's time I go home. 

Yes, I can still hear your voice. Sounds just like it did. And I can still feel your hand
When it touches my skin."

Hug the ones you love tightly.

Purr & Paw,
-Stivali.