Passings

As I was trying to get to sleep last  night I was thinking of my loved ones who have passed on.

Nikki ... our first pet, a teddy bear hamster, who passed on in the fall while I was in Elementary school (I believe in Grade 5 or 6).

Uncle Tom ... my Aussie uncle, who passed suddenly of I believe an embolism ... while his son and brand new daughter-in-law were visiting us in Penticton.

Tekk ... who was Maxx's cat but who I loved anyways, the little three-legged cutie.  He was still young and in good health until poisoned by the neighbors who put out rat poison.

Buddy ... who passed two weeks after Tekk.  He'd reached a good age of 12 1/2, but his epilepsy got the better of him and he was put to sleep after a horrible day of endless seizures.

Nana ... who passed away in New Zealand and who I only got to see a couple of times through my life, with our one family visit to New Zealand and a couple of her visits to Canada.

Maxx's grandfather ... who passed away of bone cancer, who I didn't know well and had only met once or twice, but was such a huge influence on Maxx, his true father-figure.

PV ... our sweet little calico cat, who we had to put to sleep ten days before we bought our house, when we finally learned that what was ailing her was a tumour under her tongue which had spread to her brain.

Maxx's Nana ... who passed away due to medical complications, she made me think of a mischievous older pixie.

Beau ... my little Lady Gouldian finch, my rainbow birdie who had such a sweet melodious song, I think he was scared by one of our cats and had a heart attack.

Shep ... who passed at the ripe age of 13 1/2, when his heart gave out on him, he'd been slowly failing after a stroke a couple of years prior, and we missed out on getting him out for his last picnic at Piper's Lagoon.

Grandpa ... who passed away not long after Shep, I didn't really know him all that well as he and Grandma had gotten divorced when I was really little, but who I loved.

Grandma ... who passed away a couple of months after Grandpa, we always used to have such fun when I was at university and would go out for a weekend visit to her in White Rock ... though her Yahtzee game was slightly less than scrupulous!  I still have to get some dice to leave on her grave when we make a trip through to the interior.

Peep and Cloud ... my little Zebra finch and I'm not sure what type of finch Cloud was .... I think they got cold overnight before we got the heat turned on in the fall, and passed.

The year I lost Beau, Shep, Grandpa, Grandma, Peep, and Cloud, we thought Maxx was in danger of passing on, thought my younger brother Michael was in danger of passing on, and almost lost my mother-in-law's dog Xara who was with us at the time (to leptospirosis, which could have taken Shep, Maxx, and myself as well .... vaccinate your dogs against lepto!).  That was a really hard year, and the spring after on the anniversary of Beau's death, I basically started having a mental and emotional breakdown when all the anniversaries started piling up on me.

So, I have lots of people to remember on Samhain.  Luckily, I have Oct 31st off as my regular day off ... haven't heard back yet if my vacation request for Nov 1 will be approved or not, though.