My three best friends...

Like many people I have a best friend; Someone I turn to for advice, support and to listen to me when I need to talk. In my case my best friend is my wife and I would be completely lost without her. I don't mean I wouldn't be able to cook and clean for myself and make my way through life; I mean that my life would be quite meaningless without her. We have been together for a long time and we just sort of work you know? We're very lucky I think. This is a little picture I took a couple of years ago in the Versailles gardens in France. We were bike riding around the huge grounds and stopped for a picnic by the Grand Canal.

I have a couple of other best friends though and whilst I talk to them all the time, they don't talk back; Not in words anyway.

My other two best friends are Merlin and Cleo, a couple of funny little characters with completely different personalities and mannerisms, and I love them very much. You can see them pictured here in this post. Yes, my cats. I know, I can almost here you saying "here comes a shit-post because @galenkp can't think of anything else to write about" and if this sounds like you right now then just click-through and move along; Nothing to see here. However if you know me (my blog) well, you'll know that I'm never short of words and so I'm posting about exactly what I should be posting about in this time and place. :)

Merlin on the right and Cleo (Cleopatra) on the left.

We spend a lot of time with our cats, playing with and talking with them. For those of you who have pets you'll know what I mean; We talk to them all the time and in their own way they talk back. Each of our cats has a personality and we're fortunate that they are loving, playful and quite well behaved. They are also the best of mates, often found curled up together having a snooze, or grooming each other. They ninja-pounce each other around corners and off the furniture, watch movies and the Formula One racing with us on TV and come outside when the sun is out for some lazing around and general fun; They are mostly indoor cats though. Of course, being cats, they sleep a lot too. Our two cats mean a great deal to us and we find spending time with them to be cathartic, relaxing and fun.

We are about to head off on a 6 week trip overseas though and are not taking the cats of course. I'm already starting to worry about them and also for myself as I know I'm going to miss them terribly. We have a house-sitter (mum in-law) taking care of our house and the cats but we won't be able to have cat-cuddles with them and will miss them so much. Ok, so my wife will still have cat cuddles as she'll seek out any cat within a 100m radius of her and it somehow ends up in her arms but for me I tend to be more selective preferring my own cats to others. It's somewhat of a superpower of hers I think.

As a childless couple we can't comment on what it's like to have kids however can imagine being away from ones' children would bring about the same feelings. (Or may be not depending on the people involved). We put so much love and care, effort and emotion into pets though and I know I'm going to miss Merlin and Cleo greatly. Both of these cat's came to us as strays, Merlin was about 3 years old and very skinny (he is 20 years old now) and Cleo as a 5 week old. We saved her from a couple of lads terrorising her. She is 6 years old now. We took them in and after the getting-to-know-each-other period were firmly attached emotionally.

We have had pets before of course and have lost pets too. It's devastating and such an emotional moment. My fear is that Merlin, a 20 year old, may not be with us when we return which would be difficult to accept; When we leave I could be saying goodbye to him for the last time. With a human who talks back one can express how we feel, tell them how much they mean to us and vice versa however with pets it's a little different. Sure, we can shower them with love but they can't talk back, not in voice anyway.

We are really looking forward to our trip however leaving our cats behind is distressful and we're going to miss them so much. People who don't have pets may not understand however the power a pet can have over a human is incredible. That's why they are suggested for the elderly and those with illness. They have a soothing, almost healing effect, and one only needs to go to the park and observe a person with their pet to understand. My wife and I are both animal lovers but we love these two little things more than any other animal because they are ours. They welcome us home (probably because they are hungry), get mad with on our return when we've been away and they love us back in their own way. They are like people to us and in fact, I prefer their company to that of most people. No offence intended, just the facts. :)

If you have a much-loved pet you'll understand what I mean in this post and if not then I urge you to look into the opportunity. There are plenty of animals at the shelter who would love a nice home to go to and some humans to love. It's such an amazing benefit to a person's life to have a pet and i feel can bring a lot of happiness and enjoyment.

[- Design and create your ideal life, don’t live it by default -]