Chasing the Memories

Or maybe the memories are chasing me. I’m not sure anymore. This time last year, Mike was failing fast. He had one foot in both worlds, having lively conversations with people long dead. He also reported to me during the last week of his life, that he saw two of me every day.

One Mary Anne, was sitting by his side in the chair by his bed and he saw another “misty image” of me scurrying around the house, cleaning organizing and keeping busy. (I was not in that chair 24/7 until his departure day Dec. 10th). I’m just remembering things with such clarity and not that many tears. I’ve had one meltdown in the last few weeks. Thankfully in private with Kota serving as my tear-catcher.

As my best friend Mo, who recently lost her youngest son to Diabetes told me yesterday- “You think you have a handle on the grief and it won’t carry you away any longer. But then something, some trigger occurs and off you go with your emotions raw and ragged as if nothing can stop your anger, tears, frustrations and “what if’s.”

Everyone who has grieved, does it differently. I have women in my group who were married far less than what Mike and I were, and their husbands have been gone for years and they seem frozen in their grief, stopping their lives. I don’t want to be that person, and I know that Mike would not want me to be that person.

On another note, come Tuesday, the build-up to my home will begin! I am so excited to see it take shape finally after all the destruction that has taken place. They found so many issues while tearing down the walls. Lots of reframing and restructuring had to be done. Now it’s just bringing in the new and hauling away the old. A good start for all.

Ms. Molly

This kitty, ever since I came home to stay, hasn’t left my side. The contractor joked that they would have to install a cat door in my new bathroom for her. LOL She refuses to let me out of her sight and she is currently in my lap clinging to my left arm as I type.

At night, she has to be up close and purrsonal and I go to sleep with her purrs in my ear. I have missed her and am so happy to report that her diarrhea seems to be a thing of the past. She has been the most amazing cat since she first arrived here and definitely does not have that typical tortie attitude with strangers. She will greet every person who comes into the house and linger at their feet hoping they might just want to scoop her up and cuddle with her.

Although we are not a fully restored house yet- it doesn’t matter to her. She knows it’s it progress and as long as she can keep track of me- she will! Our new roof is on right in time for the incoming storms approaching. We are getting our new gas heater as I type this and my plumbing is back up and working. No more frozen bums in the outhouse. LOL Because my bathroom has been extended, I now even have heat in there. This just suits Ms. Molly just fine. Besides, she stays warm snuggled deep in my lap.

Sad Homecoming

I have been gone for ten days and have been back for three. Upon returning home, I found the under the house cats were scarce. I did find Chessa and had to rush her to the vet because she was in bad shape. She had 108 fever, her eyes were overrun by her third eyelids, she was lethargic and fla. For the first time since she arrived here, I was able to just hold her and pet her in the room. I loved on her over 30 minutes which is a miracle and told me something was very wrong with her. Her immune system had tanked and it was determined that the best thing for her was to send her to the Bridge. There has been (so far) so sightings of Twist, Gadget, Lincoln or Poe. I have seen Baker, Bentley, and Molly, Pigeon and PITA were secure inside of an enclosure. I hope to see the others come around soon. I have walked around the area calling to them- but there have been so many changes for them.

I still have no hot water, no plumbing. I have electricity and electric heaters. My gas heater arrives tomorrow and my hot water heater will be hooked up soon. My old one disintegrated when they went to move it! I have a larger bathroom (at least compared to the water closet I had before). All the demo has been done and now after the holiday, the build-up will begin. But I need to be here despite the cold, to let the cats know all will be okay soon. It seemed like forever since I have been home. My vet said that age and a poor immune system did Chessa in- my being here wouldn’t have mattered.

Moving Along

I’ve hit a snag with the repair of the house and I have to move out for 15 days. As of now, I have no hot water and it will not reinstalled until the 18th. I have cold water, but not hot. Starting next week, I will be without heat in the house until the 19th as well as the roof will be ripped off my main house.

A friend of mine runs an Air B&B and she has a guest room I can stay with. She is also the person who adopted my Rottie pup Quincy so Kota will be welcomed and he will have a dog-pal to play with. Her house is full of artsy stuff so I think Kota will be doing a lot of kennel time there because he likes to knock stuff over.

I have a brand new ceiling now in my bedroom. Half of the room the rafters were rotted through, the other half were in better shape. I have a new back door, new stairs and new windows so work is progressing but the house is in really bad shape. They have to completely tear down all the antiquated plumbing and replace it all as well as the electrical throughout the house and the outbuildings. I have two new well roofs for the house and irrigation well. I can’t really show photos of the bedroom because the electrical to that room only has been cut off.

Pigeon is healing nicely, but this new development of me having to leave home has thrown a wrench in my plans of having my under the house cats move to the main enclosure. Now, I have reinstated the door to the enclosure and opened the tunnels. When I leave, I will have to put Molly, Pigeon and PITA out in the main and shut down the tunnels to the house. These cats don’t always get along with each other, so I need to create more hiding spaces out there or there might be bloodshed. Ever since Pigeon got mangled, he and PITA have had issues sharing the same space. I will be coming in daily to feed and check on the cats- and I am hoping the under the house kitties will migrate to either the haybarn or the shop. Not going to be an easy time for them. They are used to calling under the house home- but after they insulate the underside of the floors and the pipes, they will be closing the vents that lead to the underside of the house.