Thursday, December 22, 2011
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Sylvia
The precious face before you is my sister's cat, Sylvia.
Sylvia is at once the quintessential cat, and unlike any being I have ever known, or can even imagine existing. She is an ironic muse because she takes my breath away and leaves me speechless.
Sylvia is almost surreal. To lay eyes on her alone is to inhale utter beauty with all of the senses. To see Sylvia, by looking into her eyes, is to intake the gift of pure Love. And your spirit is unquestionably lifted. Sylvia's very being is charged with the energy it takes to heal broken hearts.
Sylvie came into my sister's and my life after we lost our beautiful, amazing Mother to liver disease. And also after she, (Sylvia), had spent over a year and a half living in a small cage at a no-kill animal shelter in Denver, CO, called Max Fund. She was practically feral. She was extremely shy and wouldn't let anyone get close to her. We don't know much at all about her history, except that the person who found her and brought her into the shelter said she had birthed a litter of kittens in a lawnmower bag in some random backyard. Though she can't tell us everything, we know she must've been through severe trauma. Something in her past damaged her and made her afraid. For this reason, it was looking like no one was going to see past her fear - into her soul - and take her home. Until...Tina saw Sylvia. The two of them looked into each other's eyes, and Sylvia had made her way home.
My sister Tina, with our Dad, brought Sylvia home to Tina's apartment. For months, Sylvia hid under the bed. She even laid in her litter box for days, even weeks in the beginning, coming out only to quickly eat and drink, then returning to hiding. By the present day, it has been over four years since Sylvia came home. Over those years, I have spent the spring and summer months living in Denver too, sharing Tina's apartment. Although Tina and I are the only two people who have ever been allowed deep access to Sylvia's trust, and are privy to the goings on of her precious, funny, sweet daily routine, she has come so incredibly far. On every level. With other people, too.
Watching her grow and emerge and evolve has been a blessed process.
Tina and I feel so lucky - like we were chosen to be with Sylvia. Like she was given the mission to save us from the pain of our loss, by which we would surely have crumbled were it not for her. I'm serious. In certain moments, I think we've relied on Sylvia for our very spiritual survival. Her energy gives us desperately needed oxygen during moments of suffocating grief. We feel Sylvia must have been sent directly from our guardians in the Angelic realm - specifically our Mom, whose feline connectivity was profound on Earth, as I know it continues to be in Heaven.
Sylvia loves to attack her catnip mice. She likes watching The Bachelor and The Golden Girls. She loves to hang out in the main part of the apartment with Me and Tina, while we lay on the pull-out couch in our jammies, transporting ourselves in any way possible to a time when life was simpler. Holding on to our childhood through our sisterhood, and through our family's shared bonds with our animals.
Sylvia is our Light. She is our Love. We thank God for, and see God in, our precious angel girl. Our Sylvia.
Sylvia is at once the quintessential cat, and unlike any being I have ever known, or can even imagine existing. She is an ironic muse because she takes my breath away and leaves me speechless.
Sylvia is almost surreal. To lay eyes on her alone is to inhale utter beauty with all of the senses. To see Sylvia, by looking into her eyes, is to intake the gift of pure Love. And your spirit is unquestionably lifted. Sylvia's very being is charged with the energy it takes to heal broken hearts.
Sylvie came into my sister's and my life after we lost our beautiful, amazing Mother to liver disease. And also after she, (Sylvia), had spent over a year and a half living in a small cage at a no-kill animal shelter in Denver, CO, called Max Fund. She was practically feral. She was extremely shy and wouldn't let anyone get close to her. We don't know much at all about her history, except that the person who found her and brought her into the shelter said she had birthed a litter of kittens in a lawnmower bag in some random backyard. Though she can't tell us everything, we know she must've been through severe trauma. Something in her past damaged her and made her afraid. For this reason, it was looking like no one was going to see past her fear - into her soul - and take her home. Until...Tina saw Sylvia. The two of them looked into each other's eyes, and Sylvia had made her way home.
My sister Tina, with our Dad, brought Sylvia home to Tina's apartment. For months, Sylvia hid under the bed. She even laid in her litter box for days, even weeks in the beginning, coming out only to quickly eat and drink, then returning to hiding. By the present day, it has been over four years since Sylvia came home. Over those years, I have spent the spring and summer months living in Denver too, sharing Tina's apartment. Although Tina and I are the only two people who have ever been allowed deep access to Sylvia's trust, and are privy to the goings on of her precious, funny, sweet daily routine, she has come so incredibly far. On every level. With other people, too.
Watching her grow and emerge and evolve has been a blessed process.
Tina and I feel so lucky - like we were chosen to be with Sylvia. Like she was given the mission to save us from the pain of our loss, by which we would surely have crumbled were it not for her. I'm serious. In certain moments, I think we've relied on Sylvia for our very spiritual survival. Her energy gives us desperately needed oxygen during moments of suffocating grief. We feel Sylvia must have been sent directly from our guardians in the Angelic realm - specifically our Mom, whose feline connectivity was profound on Earth, as I know it continues to be in Heaven.
Sylvia loves to attack her catnip mice. She likes watching The Bachelor and The Golden Girls. She loves to hang out in the main part of the apartment with Me and Tina, while we lay on the pull-out couch in our jammies, transporting ourselves in any way possible to a time when life was simpler. Holding on to our childhood through our sisterhood, and through our family's shared bonds with our animals.
Sylvia is our Light. She is our Love. We thank God for, and see God in, our precious angel girl. Our Sylvia.
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