If I could put time in a bottle. Remembering sweet summer days long ago...

I think we've all done it, sat down to clean a drawer or cupboard or file and then something happens...you see an old photo or memento that gently tugs at your heart. That happened to me the other day that brought such bittersweet memories. I was purging some old files on my laptop and found a picture that I took nearly a decade ago. Time stood still for me, if just for a moment, and yes, I shed a tear or two remembering summer days and sweet times...gone...all too soon.

Camille and Rosemary, along with my son's cat, Zoe' (far right) will all turn 8 years old this summer. Now, that's not all that elderly for a cat, but nonetheless, it is eight years and that is a significant amount of time no matter how you count the days, weeks, months and years. In the photo they are about 6 months old. Where did it go? What happened to the three, little kittens that were rescued oh, so long ago? The little kittens that would run willy-nilly from room to room of my house flinging themselves into the air, landing on a dime only to scurry away to begin again? The little kittens who would arch their backs and hop sideways, tail pointing to the clouds as they assaulted an imaginary foe. The time slipped away so quickly.

A litter of kittens that I fostered, 2004

Those of us who cannot imagine living without being surrounded by animals pay a huge price with broken hearts and many tears when there is no more time left. We do the unimaginable when we have to say a painful good-bye to a little life that we've cherished. We moan and we sob and we rail against the fates and our bodies shudder with the pain of unbearable sorrow.

Scout, 2003, the year he entered my heart

But after a time, we dry our eyes and begin to smile again and begin to plan again - for the new arrival, a new beginning. That little kitten or playful pup or maybe that graying senior in need of a home who caught our eye when we last visited the shelter - and we have a home, we have the room. A home that will open its doors wide to new life and new love and new hope and new smiles. We won't think of a time long into the future where illness will tear us apart, because we have to prepare. We have to turn feathers into monsters for little paws to hunt. Or possibly we need to grab a chubby, little body to run quickly out the door so we can say, "Go potty outside", as we stand in the early morning light hoping the neighbors don't see us wearing our torn pink bathrobe and our old bunny slippers.

We do it all over again without looking back at the pain - the circle of life - and what a life it is for us - the crazy cat people and the wacky dog folks. I can't imagine spending my time any other way - ain't life grand?☺

Savannah Leigh, 1993 - 2007

I'd like to end this post with the lyrics of an old Jim Croce song, Time in a Bottle. I loved the words in 1972 and I love them even more now. They have a deeper meaning for me now than when I was a kid.

If I could save time in a bottle
The first thing that I'd like to do
Is to save every day
Till Eternity passes away
Just to spend them with you

If I could make days last forever
If words could make wishes come true
I'd save every day like a treasure and then
Again, I would spend them with you

But there never seems to be enough time
To do the things you want to do
Once you find them
I've looked around enough to know
That you're the one I want to go
Through time with

If I had a box just for wishes
And dreams that had never come true
The box would be empty
Except for the memory
Of how they were answered by you

But there never seems to be enough time
To do the things you want to do
Once you find them
I've looked around enough to know
That you're the one I want to go
Through time with