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One Last Drawing

Post #1638 • January 15, 2014, 8:50 PM

At the moment I'm in New York City preparing for The Fire to Say: Comics as Poetry at the Winkleman Curatorial Research Lab, but this happy occasion follows on a sad one, the loss of a friend of almost seventeen years, Mezzo the Cat. I brought him to the veterinarian because his breathing was labored. After an examination the vet told me that he was in congestive heart failure. Treatment options were short-term and significantly uncomfortable for the patient. Furthermore his left elbow had slipped into the x-ray, a the bones facing the joint had a crackle pattern typical of cancer. I took him home to give him one more day in his house. He had a good day there, but he was clearly tired.

We returned to the veterinarian's office the next day. By administering the sort of lavish affection upon him that he thought of as his birthright, I got him purring as the vet injected his arm. I felt his breathing come to rest.

I rescued him along with his brother and sister, all six weeks old at most, from their abandonment at the art department at the University of Miami. I dubbed them Dark, Medium, and Light because I had every intention of finding homes for them. So much for that plan. Medium became Mezzo and my home became theirs. That was 1997. Much has happened since then but Mezzo has always been waiting for me to return from whatever pointless distraction was occupying my time, and attend to my proper role in life as Head Scratcher, Couch Sitting Companion, and Guy Who Makes the String Go.

Rest In Peace, Mister Kitty Man. I miss you.

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