Farewell Jet

On March 4th, 2019 I had to say goodbye to my cat Jet. I got him three months after I moved to Orlando. The adoption paper said he was eight weeks old but a vet later comfirmed he was only four weeks old. I hand raised him and I had him for fifteen years.

Those years were also some of the most turbulent years of my life. I struggled with work and school, never having enough money, and horrible roommates. Relationships fell apart, jobs closed without warning. By the time I was 35 I had moved nine times and I had juggled two jobs since I had graduated college. In my world of general chaos he was often the only consistency I had to hold on to.

Enjoying the peace in the first apartment that we had all to ourselves.

When he became the big brother for Kobi.

He loved to cuddle with me; especially on cold mornings.

The 10 year anniversay of his adoption.

Sometimes I would take warm towels from the dryer and lay them on his bed. He would purr up a storm.

I loved the look on his face when I upgraded his bed.

But he always loved to curl up in my arms.

When my parents bought me a couch he thought it was his new cat bed and claimed it for himself.

After I rescued the stray he became a big brother again. All three of them always got along so well.

I took this photo the day I moved into my condo. Jax and Kobi were anxious but Jet was an old pro.

I finally had a place were he could lay out in the sun.

A short while after we moved in his health began declining.

But he would wait by the window for me to come home everyday.

I loved his silly little faces.

My best friend Rochelle had graciously offered to go to the vet with me. She didn’t want me to go alone. But it had been me and him for so long that it was something that I had to do without anyone else. 

Curled up in my arms on last time.

I was holding him when he slipped away.

Amidst the endless upheaval we were the only constants in each others lives. He had been with me through some of the darkest years of my life and it was devastating to loose him right at the point where I felt I was gaining some stability. I had so many friends reach out to comfort me. They all loved him too. 

I am forever gratful for our time together and all the love that he represents.

My Sweet Boy 

October 2nd, 2004 - March 4th, 2019

The Green Dress

In the SCA, one needs time period appropriate garb to attend events. For the longest time all I had was the blue tunic from Tim and the black dress I had borrowed for the renaissance faire that Melissa had given to me. I loved them both but I had yet to have something truely of my own. I sat down one day and came up with four sketches for dresses I wanted to make. Seth, one of the heavy fighters, agreed to help me make a dress. He learned how to sew from his mother and carried that love from making halloween customes into making his own garb for the SCA. He was going to help me make the simplest dress; the green dress. 

When it came down to getting the fabric we found a bed sheet from Goodwill that we would use for the under dress. Serendipitously, Vicky - another fencer, had fabric she wanted to give me. I met her at her house and she gave me the lovely stack of wool. She expressed concern that I wouldn’t like the color. I laughed and told her that the dress I was making was green. 

With all the pieces in place Seth went to work. 

The serenity in this photo belies the fact that he was blasting death metal.

Photo by Seth Fleury

He even modeled it on himself.

When I finally got to try on the dress I was thrilled.

It looked just like my sketch. It reminded me of the sketchbooks I used to have in high school, all filled with characters in lovely dresses. Even when I was little I used to love to play dress up. I would come to the dinner table wearing the prettiest dresses I could find. Throughout the majority of my childhood I wanted to be a princess for Halloween. As I grew into an adult dress up became something that was less and less practical. All my dresses and designs became pages in sketchbooks; concepts for outfits I would never touch. 

But to have this dress felt deeply fullfiling. I was a kid indulging in dress up all over again. I felt like a princess. One of my sketches literally come to life. Able to connect with a childhood dream. Vicky and Seth had helped make it happen. My first SCA outfit; the green dress.