2.4.09

Noll Remembers Gizmo

Nature, like man, sometimes weeps for gladness - Benjamin Disreali
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Cousin Gizmo was a “Kitty from Heaven” (see post: Noll Explains “Kitties from Heaven”.) And, as Heaven’s special envoy, Gizmo knew exactly when and where he needed to be.

The sound came from a distance. Among the weeds, the little black kitten shifted his dirty body. He knew it was time. As the noise approached, he craned his neck and stretched his scraggy shoulders above the tall strands. He needed to be noticed at the precise moment. The tall stranger had merely to glance at the weedy verge now. And, he did! The motor slowed; a wisp of road dust drifted up. The door opened and a soft call beckoned. Sporting a torn upper lip, the black kitten meowed and accepted the ride without hesitation.

At the rustic ranch, my auntie cleaned his matted fur and treated his wound. Never again would his bloated belly know a hollow gnaw. Never again would he sleep alone. The top of her pillow belonged to him.

The curved scar meandering through his whiskers blossomed into his beauty mark. The 'whistling-booger' way he breathed through his nose would forever bring a smile and a laugh to all who encountered him.

Like me, he was a cat with three names: Gizzie-mo/Coco-mo, Snutzy-Doodles (for that nose whistle) and, simply, Gizzie.

A friend to Wolfie the husky, Gimzo was a champion foil ball fetcher. Just like a dog, he chased and fetched. A water baby, Gizmo could not resist sticking his paws under the water running in the sink; usually, encroaching upon the way of human grooming, but always a welcomed distraction. A lover, Gizmo could not contain his paws – always touching, patting the face that presented it self.

Thirteen and a half years after stretching tall to be noticed on the side of the road, when his heart was full of love and his kidneys could take in no more of life, Gizmo went to the bridge.
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That day, as raindrops (or, were they teardrops?) fell on his shoulders, Gizmo passed over rainbow bridge into light. At the foot of the bridge, he met a fuzzy button of a kitten coming from Heaven’s gate.

It is a magical thing when animal and human walk together sharing understanding and convergence. Once upon a time, in a rustic country ranch, did a cat and two humans walk in the shadow of the rainbow.
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Said Gizmo to the kitten now known as Stuey, “Go now, straight over this bridge, pass the woods to the clearing, and mew from the bottom of your soul. There, magic will find you."