Today, we had lunch with family including my brother who traveled here from New Mexico. During our lunchtime conversation, I learned that my brother's very old, beloved cat, Toad, had quietly passed away.
At one time, my brother and his wife had seven cats, and Toad was always my favorite, well, he was every one's favorite and he was best friend to all of the other cats, too. Toad earned his name because he actually resembled a puffy, lumpy gray toad of the amphibious sort. His looks were not the reason he was cherished so by all. It was rather because Toad was so lovable in his own special way. He was big and lumber some and a prime cuddle candidate for all of my brother's other animals, which, at one time, included a dog along with all the cats. Toad was that perpetual shoulder to lean on. He seemed to make all the other cats in his presence feel safe and important. He wasn't a fighter, as so many male cats are. Toad was a gentle soul. He did not vie for dominance, yet he earned respect among all the others and none of the other cats ever challenged him. When my brother and his wife adopted a sleek, beautiful, creamy orange colored stray, she immediately earned the name Princess. And who do you think her prince charming was? That's right, none other than Toad. Princess shunned all the other cats, but she dearly loved Toad. For all the years they shared together, up until the day he died, Toad and Princess were inseparable. It was quite a real life fairytale :)
Toad left us with a simple but so important lesson ~ One must be truly loving to be truly loved.
We all need the steady presence of solid individuals we can lean on ... better yet, we can become those very sorts who can lend strength to others who need support and comfort.
Toad rests in peace now, but, then again, he always did ... and he always made sure others did, too.
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