Sometimes life has a way of showing you when you are taking the ‘normal’ things for granted.
Recently, our cat Darcy has been going through some health scares. She started to get pickier about what she ate and seemed to be drinking less and less. At one point, she didn’t seem to be doing very much at all and was sleeping most of the day; just not seeming like herself. After a couple of visits to a veterinarian’s office, she seems to have perked up and is happy to be back home again.
I now find myself celebrating some of the small things with her. Things like, when she eats any of her soft food, when she feels energetic enough to take a walk outside, hearing her purring again, and just any signs of her quirky and funny personality returning.
It was not easy having to be away from her as she received care for her health issues. When you live with a beloved pet, for a long time, you get used to them being there and their usual routines. There were times when I expected to see her sitting on top of the stairs or lying down on one of the beds at home, only to have to remind myself she was not at home. I missed not having her lying next to me as I slept or even how she would come into the kitchen persistently requesting food.
Having Darcy around has always been a great comfort to me. Petting Darcy and talking to her always had a way of making any stressful day easier for me. This is not something I think I’ll ever take for granted again.
I think this really was a lesson about how quickly things in life can change and how much the small moments in life really matter. And, I think we can all apply this lesson to our regular lives. Life can be busy and hectic, but we should never forget to take the time to stop and celebrate, as well as remember, the small moments in life.
Moving forward, I hope I can continue to celebrate more positive moments with my cat, for a long time to come.