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| With Niño 2023 |
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| Julio Cortázar & Flanelle |
“Estoy tan solo como este gato, y mucho más solo porque lo sé y él no”.
“I am alone like this cat but more so because I know and he does not.”
Julio Cortázar
I am not completely sure about Cortázar’s statement because Niño and his sister Niña are affectionate with each other. They are obviously aware of their mutual existence. When Rosemary and I brought them from the Vancouver SPCA about 5 years ago, they had always been together.
My relationship with Niño is especially close. He has cancer of the intestines and has responded positively to his every-other-day human cancer pill. The vet has told me that he has at least two more years of life. Niño is 10 and I am 81. I think, almost every day, which one of us will depart first. I worry that if I am the one, since both my daughters have cats, I have no idea who would take care of them.
I also disagree a tad with Cortázar as the company of my cats does not make me feel completely alone. I take care of them, I feed them and we spend a lot of time on the bed doing nothing.
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| Niña & Niño |
Because I no longer have to do anything, I do not feel too guilty in not doing anything. For the first time in my life I snooze in the afternoon with Niño and Niña (except for our Mexico City siestas between 1970 and 1975) when Rosemary and I indulged in siestas where we slept little as we had other ideas.
We are not alone. We are together.
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| Sunday breakfast |