With Niño 2023

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.

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.

Sunday breakfast