A Remembrance

Jammer, great Jammer, died on Monday morning. He was almost 17. After he died, Rob and I spent the day talking about him and looking at pictures of him. I found his kitten pictures, and I said, “See, he always had sad puppy eyes, from the very beginning.”

And Rob said, “And when he got older, he had ancient eyes. He had the eyes of a great, ancient beast, like an elephant or a whale, maybe. They were so wise.”

I thought what Rob said was really true. Jammer was such a deep and wise cat. He was so patient, so gentle. Accepting. He was so big, but he thought he was small. He was meek and mild. Docile, compliant. He never tried to boss anybody. He’d sit and wait patiently, letting all the other cats eat before him at the cat trough. He was slow and deliberate. He’d eat so slowly, chewing in a thoughtful way. He liked to lie on the screen porch and sniff the air. He’d lie on the screen porch and simply be.

He was so peaceful. He never caused any harm. Goodbye, sweet Jammer.