Her Name was Josie

It took a while to set up Josie’s ashes and memorial photograph. I hope she’ll forgive the delay; those who remain here needed a bit of tending.

In fact, my Chubs’s ashes were ready within a couple of days. It’s astonishing to what one’s body is reduced after cremation. She once was a heavy girlcat. But she is not really here with me; I like to think that she is somewhere better. These are just reminders of what she had been.

The Great White was a kind of anchor in the Cosy Apartment. While the loss of Raleigh and Cammie last year, and Parker, Tungsten and Bear-Bear before them, were grievous and great, they didn’t change the feel of things the way Josie’s departure has. I feel as though I have lost a support. I don’t know why: she complained much of the time and was selfish, really. But she was my friend, and it seems as though she had always been with me. Now, she is not, and the world feels less steady.

She was my old lady, my friend. Her name was Josie, and I will remember her.