tao of ernie k ernst

our beloved cat, ernie, died last night. he was 18, an old kitty. ernie died from old age. his body simply started shutting down and he spent the weekend growing weaker and weaker till finally he took a couple of last breaths and then simply didn't. ernie was sui generis, a loving soul who never held a grudge nor did he ever cross paths with any creature, human and otherwise, that he didn't accept. he was a beauty and i think perhaps a bit vain because of it. let's allow all of us our petty vanities. because ernie would accept ours as i suspect he would expect the same of us regarding his.

ernie lived a long, happy life. i'm sure he had moments of irritation and anger but for a cat he didn't show them and he lived life at the first intensity. but for him life lived at the nth degree meant taking things slow, savoring those moments. we learn from our loved ones including our pets. ernie's way was to enjoy and love and if i learned anything from the cat it is the necessity of every now and again to stop and eat the flowers.

if you're wondering what the 'k' stands for in his middle name, well, i must confess that one of my little vanities was a desire for him to become a hip-hop artist. sure, it sounds silly but you should've heard him rap. he knew how to mewl! and if you so much looked at him and said his name he'd respond with a loud, rounded out, meow! he was the most vocal of felines even if he was not the most musical. so the 'k' came out of his persona see because i wanted to give some cred even if he was the sweetest thing in our universe, so when he was a kitten i took to calling him a KILLA IN KITTEN'S KLOTHING. ernie i'm sure thought that was silly but was way too kind to tell me so.