I do not even know where or how to start. So many good things happening here. First great thing is friends. When I lost Spaz, I got so many wonderful emails from friends and people I didn't even know. I cannot begin to tell you how much that meant and still means to me. Two people especially stand out--Amaya and Mel. Amaya is a devon breeder in Oregon. Years ago I heped her get started with these cats, and we became friends. When she learned about Spaz's disappearance, she went so far as consulting a psychic to try to find him. She later offered me Spaz's sister for comfort. And she even offered me her stud to get my queen pregnant. It was enormously important for me, I see now, to think of the future--whether it meant another Gentry cat or kittens of my own. And life does go on after loss, though my life here will never be the same after knowing Spaz.
It didn't work for Teeny to breed with Pony Pants, but through the generosity of Amaya and her good friend Robyn at Catasourus Rex, Igor from Koro bred with Teen and we might have kittens born here in December. I thank both Robyn and Amaya for their efforts there. And Igor of course. He's a beautiful van boy from Judy's cattery back east. Yea for us!!!
And then there is Mel, from Seattle. She has another Gentry cat named Atlantis. I remember seeing his pictures on Anna's blog when he was born. He's a very beautiful blue or blue mink boy. Mel and I have never met, and had then only commented on each other's blogs about cats, when out of the blue she offered me her boy. I still get choked up thinking of this. I thought she was just being nice, but not serious. When I came to my senses and asked her why she would do such a crazy thing, she said "Because I think you need him right now more than I do."
I was in Bethel at the time she made this offer. And sometimes I get so caught up in all the things wrong with the world. All the crimes and wars and drugs and murder. Then there is a really really generous offer from someone who doesn't know me from Eve. Anna said that it was a good reminder to always pay it forward. And I hadn't thought of that either. But it's true: sometimes doing something selfless is the most amazing thing of all.
There have been other people who helped me get through the loss of Spaz. Sophie from Vancouver, who also consulted a psychic on Spaz's behalf. My friend Chris, who made me a cedar box in which to put pictures and keepsakes of Spaz. Amy who walked all over the 'hood with me to try to find him. And of course Anna, who bred that beautiful boy and all of the other Gentry kittens who delight their families.
So I guess I just want to say thank you to all the people who offered me support during the last couple of months. I hope you never know the heartbreak of losing a pet before his time.
And the other story I wanted to tell here has been told by us now for over a week, but I still want to write it here, if I can.
Mark surprised me a couple of months ago by buying tickets to our favorite band Wilco--in Dallas. Mark's mother and whole family still live in the Dallas area, so it was a good way to both celebrate our 20th and go see family. Our good friends Chris and Amy, the ones who turned us on to Wilco in the first place, were going to come along too. How perfect was that?! We had to hit some thrift stores before the concert to get some good country western rockabilly outlandish clothing. Mark got a sleezy gold shirt from the thrift store and Chris got a beautiful vintage western shirt for 6xs that amount. But we were all ready for the show.
Ohhh finally a picture. Here is Amy, Chris (in his vintage shirt) me and Mark--all gold and shiny outside by his mom's pool in Dallas. We took the light rail down town, where Mark was already getting compliments on his shirt. We could never tell though whether or not people were being serious or mocking him.
As a side note: there was a lovely woman on the light rail who read, no I mean seriously studied a coloring book the whole way downtown. What was that about? Just a random weird thing.
When we were inside the Palladium in Dallas, we never lost our place up front when we went to go get a beer because all we had to do was look for the shiny gold beacon. That was Mark.
Well the concert was awesome. Wilco is the most amazing band. As Sean kept saying of Wilco--they're the real deal. They're perfect. Nils. Wow. His solo in "Handshake Drugs" transported me away. Or maybe just made me entirely present. And Glenn Kotche. He's the man. He's not a drummer really--he's a genius. Every member of the band is fabulous. At one point a security guard stood on the rails at the front of the crowd obviously looking for someone smoking pot. Jeff Tweedy was making fun of him saying "I think the fashion police is looking for someone. It's gotta be the guy in the gold lame shirt."
Suddenly spotlights are on Mark. We are stunned. Mark said he knew then exactly what he was going to do. He motioned to Tweedy "Switch shirts with me!" The crowd pushed Mark forward and they both start taking off their shirts. Then Mark sees Glenn, knows that he is my hero and says "I want Glenn's shirt" (for me of course. What a guy!) but Glenn flips him the bird and as someone on youtube pointed out, Mark DID get me something from Glenn--the finger! Then Tweedy said to Mark, "Do you still want my shirt? It's from H and M" whatever that is. And they changed shirts. Here's one of the videos of this event.
Hope that link works. Hilarious.
After the show, people had their pictures taken with Mark in Tweedy's shirt, people offered to buy it, and we just kept laughing and laughing. It was the best night ever. It was our first live Wilco concert, our 20th anniversary celebration, and Mark got to wear home a very aromatic shirt owned by Jeff Tweedy. Wow. You cannot beat that.
Hey I found some more pics of the night and so you're gonna have to see these too:
Here's Lilly in his vintage shirt. He was kind of bummed he didn't get to swap shirts with Tweedy. But his shirt cost more, so I don't know if he would have done it....
Some people just have to be in the spotlight....
I'm serious that we laughed all night.
And laughed and laughed. Here is Lilly blowing up their air mattress. We were still laughing when we got home. I thought Amy would pee her pants.
Here's Tweedy in Mark's shirt.
