Tuesday, June 23, 2020

Poinciana






Poinciana was good for me, and I was good for her. For almost eight years (she belonged to my neighbor the first six years of her life before she decided to move in with me) Poinciana was my companion, my friend, my master, my entertainer, my audience, my consoler, and of course my favorite model. She went on to her next life on August 10, 2010.  I still cry over her.--Joe Snoe



Hiatus update: I don't want to say I'm whipping through requested reading, cause I'm really not. Each manuscript takes about an hour per each 50 pages (reading) and another hour on the reply to the author. More if there are extensive notes.

Finding those hours has been easier with the blog content taken care of by readers and animals! Thank you all!

12 comments:

nightsmusic said...

Oh, Joe, they do stay in your heart, don't they? She was beautiful and thought it's been some time, I'm still sorry for your loss.

Janet, I'm glad to hear you're getting through everything. A little less stress is always a good thing :)

Brenda said...

She was lovely, Joe.

Melanie Sue Bowles said...

Such a beautiful girl... I just love her face. And I sure understand that heartbreak.

Joseph S. said...


A strange experience in three parts. Take it for what you will.

Part 1: I was so grief stricken when Poinciana died I stayed away from my house as much as possible. I suffered twinges of guilt that I had consciously stayed away. Then one day I no longer felt Poinciana’s presence in the air at home and I imagined she had gone thinking I had abandoned her. I said a prayer for someone to tell her I hadn’t. I know – silly.

Part 2: I went to bed relatively early (for me) and was reading. Out of nowhere I heard a cat meow that sounded just like the one Poinciana made when she did not know where I was and was calling for me. I stopped reading and listened intently for another call, but there was none. I decided I was too tired to get out of bed to check it out, and assumed the sound came from outside the house.

Part 3: The next morning when I woke I found two swirls of gray fur on the hall floor outside my bedroom door (looked exactly like Poinciana’s fur). I tried to figure out logically how they got there, but couldn’t figure out a way.

I’m not sure the three events relate to each other, or if it was just coincidence.

Donnaeve said...

That is one big hurt, and so (too) many of us know it. She sure was beautiful, and as to what happened to you on those three occasions after she left, well, I have to think it wasn't just happenstance. I love mysterious, inexplicable events like that.

My mother told me about pennies from heaven right after my dad passed away. She kept finding pennies, and she'd say, "Hey Daddy, I see you," every time she did. After about the 4th or 5th time, I finally said, "What are you talking about?" And that's how I found out about this "phenomena." I'd kept a jacket of his and had washed it before I hung it in my closet. A year or so later, something made me pull it out, and put it on. When I did, I stuck my hands in the pockets, and found a penny. Coincidence?

About a month after Mom passed away, I was at the courthouse settling some of her affairs, and when I got out of my vehicle, just inches from my foot was a shiny penny. Coincidence?

I think those we love the most try to let us know they loved us just as much, too.

Lennon Faris said...

She is lovely, Joe. Lovely story, too. If people think they have all of the universe's 'logic' completely sorted out, I think that's the surest sign that they don't.

Donna, that was also very touching. Thanks for sharing.

KMK said...

Glad to know the reading is going well, tho' of course we miss our Queen! Joe and Donna, I'm with you. My late uncle, a lifelong birdwatcher and photographer, sends me blue jays. They're not very common in our corner of CT, but every once in a while, when I need it most, there's a blue jay sitting on the deck rail. And I can almost hear his laugh.

Beth Carpenter said...

Poinciana is beautiful, and looks so wise. What lovely markings!

AJ Blythe said...

Joe, lovely name for a lovely cat. Such an elegantly distinctive nose! It's such a shame our pets don't live longer, although they always stay on in our hearts.

Joseph S. said...

Moving Comment, Donnaeve. Thanks

Craig F said...

Professor, it sounds like you either stole or inherited that cat.

I am a cat person because of inherited dogs. It is a double whammy when they go.

Our cats are all formerly feral. It is sweet when they place their trust in you and it makes it easier for the little beasts to claw their way into your heart.

Poinciana looks like she loved her way into yours.

Joseph S. said...

Craig

You're right. I come from a dog family. I never considered owning a cat.
But one cold wet early November night, I saw little paws under my basement door. (My basement at the time had a hole that allowed water and uninvited critters to sneak in.) I opened the basement door, the cat came in and hid in a bedroom. The next morning I opened the back door and out she went. We repeated that scenario three or four nights in a row. Then I bought milk for her, and she stayed. Sometimes she disappeared for two or three days but she kept returning.

I called her "Cat" for two months. In January I took her to the Vet for a checkup and gave her the name "Poinciana."

She originally belonged to my next door neighbors. Three or four years after s entered my life, my neighbor and I realized who she was. I told him he could come get her. A few weeks later he said I could keep her. It seems when he saw her on his driveway one day, she hissed at him.

Poinciana's last month was tough. I had to force feed her. That was rough on her and me. One night right before she died, after I fed her in the tub, she leapt onto my chest and laid her head against my neck. It was the most loving hug ever.

She went into the basement and died while I was at school.

The Basement. Poinciana entered my life through the basement, and she left my life through the basement.