Rainbow Bridge Cat Wisdom Because Love Never Dies
Rainbow Bridge Cat Wisdom Because Pet Love Never Dies by Layla Morgan Wilde
Announcing a new feature! Every so often I’ll see a Facebook memory of one of my dearly departed kitties. Depending on the day, the cat and the photo I respond accordingly. Sometimes it’ll be so old I can’t remember posting it but usually it brings a smile, an aw or a twinge in my heart.
Cat lovers, well all pet lovers, talk about the Rainbow Bridge and how pet love is forever. I’ve always said whatever is remembered lives, so why not breathe new life into an old photo? Goodness knows I have an archive of thousands of photos, some better than others, some never seen before and some worthy of a makeover into Rainbow Bridge Wisdom Collection.
It’s not a secret that long before I created Cat Wisdom 101 I was a photo quote queen. All the old quote sites and many of the newer sites have hundreds of my photo quotes on display. I used to send copyright take down notices but it was too much work. If you happen to come across any of mine, please don’t share them. That’s how they make money.
Yes, I know my new feature might be ripped off but life is short and I have a generous heart. Maybe I’ll be rewarded in my next life :-).
While mulling over some new ideas, a framed photo of Mergatroyde, my first Siamese cat, fell off the shelf.
If that’s not a sign, I don’t know what is.
I don’t have a lot photos of my childhood or pre-Internet cats so every photo is precious. The photo of Merga, the apple-headed meezer sitting pretty in the catalpa tree at my parents’ house had faded. Badly. It was also printed on strange textured paper I’ve not seen used since. What to do?
Merga like most Siamese cats was smart. She would have rocked on Instagram and was made was posing. Why I didn’t take more photos falls into the realm of why didn’t I buy stock in Apple.
I owed Merga at the very least a mini-makeover. What a pretty girl. She was a gift from a boyfriend who named her. After we broke up, I should have changed her name to something more appropriate but c’est la vie.
One thing led to another as it does on creative rolls, and my first few Rainbow Bridge Cat Wisdom photo quotes, emerged effortlessly. Not sure yet what to call them. Rainbow Bridge Cat Wisdom or Pet Wisdom in case I include dogs or other animals? Or Rainbow Bridge Animal Wisdom if there is wildlife like this bee that landed on my much photographed Buddha?
Let me know your thoughts.
For now I plan to post once a week either on Thursday or Friday and see how it goes. It might be one or a themed group, who knows. My quotes will be either my own or snippets of Zen poetry, Rumi etc. and relevant to the season, reflecting my mood or the news.
Most will feature my favorite OTRB cats but you know how it is with cats and inspiration. Odin was sitting the other day like this and it reminded me of the lion from St. Mark’s Square in Venice and I couldn’t resist. That’s how my brain works. Because doesn’t life imitate art and art imitate life?
Then again, cats inspire art of all kinds, right?
A little late for Pride Month but the message is timeless. This is of course the late great Clyde. With so much hate, bigotry and division, can’t we all just love each other? This is Rainbow Bridge Wisdom, let’s pass it on.
And since the 4th of July is around the corner, I will post a revised update about fireworks and keeping our pets safe. Wow, two posts back to back. I haven’t done that in years 🙂
Stay tuned for another kind of art, my first NFT is dropping very soon and it’s all for charity!
18 Comments
Skeeter and Izzy
AHHHHHHHHHHH the Rainbow Bridge. I have had two more cross over one in February and one in June. I don’t have photos of many of my babies but I have the “pictures” in my heart and soul. I have started asking permission from my babies to remove a small piece of fur and one whisker before they leave the world between life and crossing the bridge. I put these in a zip lock baggie and I write their name, birth date if I know it (most I have no clue) and the date of their crossing. I hold it close to my heart and send all of my love to them. I then take a piece of paper and write down the words that make them who they are. I seal it with a kiss and put it in a special place. When I miss them so much I take these little pieces of love out of their box and hold them close to my heart again and close my eyes and see my babies just like they are there again, new and well and beautiful. Sometimes I smile and sometimes I cry like it has just happened but it is always a beautiful moment when that connection is made anew.
Thank you for wanting to remember and acknowledge this part of life.
Luvs
Skeeter and Izzy and the Feral Gang and always the Angels >^..^^..^<~
Layla Morgan Wilde
Oh,I love that ritual! I’ve always taken a whisker or a bit of fur too but this adds another dimension. Sending lots of love xoxo
Nancy West
Lovely ideas here! You’ve motivated me to look for my rainbow soul kitties and dogs and enjoy their memories.
Create With Joy
What a beautiful cat. I miss my Rainbow babies every day. Life is not the same without them but I am forever grateful fo rmy photos, my memories, and the way they forever stole my heart. (Visiting from Feline Friday. xoxo)
Amy Harlib
So grateful you are posting about Bridge Kitties. I remember and cherish every beloved feline in my life and it is terrific to share about them – they live on in our loving memories.
i miss them all and dote all the more on my current resident furry purry, black Maine Coon mix fluffy Astor, now 3 years + old.
meowmeowmans
We like your ide aof posting on Thursday or Friday. It sounds like your posts will continue to be beautiful and thought provoking, so we’ll be watching for them. 🙂
Loved seeing Merga today, and of course, our beloved buddy Clyde.
XO
Brian Frum
That’s such a sweet post and this will make a nice feature.
Ellen J Pilch
Merga was beautiful. I like the idea of featuring your Rainbow Bridge kitties. I do that on Fridays. I always do a flashback with some to keep them in memory. XO
E. Hutzelman
Thanks for the post and pictures. It helped lift my depression a bit from the loss of my last rescue cat in April. Knowing all of you know the pain and grief of losing a family member is profound,especially when not responding to several medications. This wasn’t the first, but one of the most debilitating. He slept on my chest and purred me to sleep every night. Please keep us in your thoughts while recovering.
Leah
Beautiful photos and meaningful thoughts, Layla! Merga was a gorgeous cat. I have many photos in both digital and film format. Most of the latter aren’t scanned. I sometimes repost my pics that come up in fb memories too. I had many photos taken by content aggregators and offered for use and it’s so annoying! It’s sad that some pics go around the Internet so much that there’s no way to find the original photographer. Looking forward to seeing the posts you make from your pictures!
Layla Morgan Wilde
Leah, thank I really appreciate it and sorry you’ve had those annoying thefts too. Ironically, I got a pingback notification that this post was immediately scraped by India Tips. *sigh*
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Sandee
A beautiful post. Our pet love never dies.
Thank you for joining the Feline Friday Blog Hop.
Have a fabulous weekend. ♥
Layla Morgan Wilde
Always happy to hop along with you 🙂
Meezer'sMews&TerrieristicalWoofs
I have lots of thosae ‘textured paper’ pictures, I think it was to help them last longer than the ‘shiny’ ones.
I have seven ‘angels, and four other family ones…and hubby has more than a few from his growing up days as well.
Its good to see them once in a while to help refresh our memory and keep them ‘alive’.
Layla Morgan Wilde
That’s interesting about the your paper. I find the colors fade equally to those rosy sepia tones.
Memories of Eric and Flynn
That is a lovely idea. Mergatroyde is beautiful.
I have a photo of our first ginger boy we had together, Marmi. It was printed on that same strange textured paper. Maybe it was soething new at the time (1970’s)
Layla
Thanks so much. You do such a great job with your otrb cats. And yes, that weird paper was 70s!