THE BLACK CAT part 1

This series of posts are a last hommage to Jean-Claude Menaud,

He was a cat, a cat that was one of the most important people to ever come into my life.

The black cat is a special kind of cat and Jean-Claude (alias Lemenou) was a perfect example of how special and unique they are. Yes a cat changed my life... Mine, Elaine, and Seb's life were ultimately made better by having known him.

This is for you my friend, I will tell your story!

Farewell my son, you will be forever in our hearts...

Death remains a mystery to us who are alive. When someone we hold dear passes to the other side, everything is swallowed up, time just freezes, we are left with doubt, so many questions arise, like why?

We feel loss and we try to find a way to cope, by wondering why. At that moment in our existence something has changed, there seems to be no logic. In western cultures, like I have grown up in, death is almost a taboo subject, we are not taught to accept it as a natural process of life.

Although it is a certainty that our life will inevitably end, we try to evade the subject altogether. It will end yes, when?
Well don't think about that, forget about the subject...

My friend is gone but still I feel he is here. For he has left behind his story, his memories and they can continue to live through us by remembering, by keeping those memories alive so that his presence is felt in our hearts, filling the space left empty by his departure.

A lot of people have cats at home, many believe that cats are independent and (mostly) untrainable, so they let them be. Most cats are content with this way of life, sleeping, eating and being let outside on demand to go roam around and be their mischievous selves! Certain humans are also content with this way that cats can be so easy to please.

The truth is that having a pet means that this sentient being is taken under our wing. It is our responsibility to give them a home, food, love and a good life.

But what is a good life?

Picture yourself as being someone's pet, having a home and food and being loved is essential, but cats live up to 10-20 years, would you consider that you have had a good life if you spent all those years being fed, patted on the head and told to keep your place and be cute...

Learning stimulates brain development, education builds experience, having experiences grows intelligence, is this not also a necessary part of happiness?
Is life good if we are prevented from learning, being kept stupid...

It is my personnal opinion that there is no value to owning a pet if I can't give him a good life. I treated my cat as my partner, my buddy, my son, mon ptit minou...
Always teaching him new things and always being surprised by his intelligence.
He was one of us!

Curiously intriguing little creatures they are...

I have encountered many cats in my life,
all (most...) cats are smart,
but black cats are a special kind of cat. They have a little "je ne sais quoi"...

This guy was such a character! He seemed almost human... He had a life full of adventures and he will be remembered through this series of posts in which I will do my best to show just how special he was. It is so hard, this is one of the hardest things I've ever done... but it seems and it feels like the right thing to do.

So here begins the story of The black cat...

                        By Elaine @philodendron