Eras Passing

Over a decade ago two kittens joined the family.  They quickly became an integral part of our hearts and lives.  They survived six months of quarantine, new homes, and lots of changes.  They matured, aged, and in ways we didn’t always understand, grew old.  Minx was at least sixty-six in human years, maybe older.
 
If I shut my eyes I can see two young kids chasing and playing with the kittens.  Strings, toys, and treats on their birthdays were as integral to living as food and clothing.  Tasha and Minx created special memories in each of our lives.  I can remember other pets in my life – from kittens in Sacramento to Sandy in Bangalore to a wide range of snakes and birds with no names.  Each changed my view of the world, even the views of my self.  I always forget they are going to do this when they come into my life.  I always remember and treasure their memory when they are no longer a part of life.
 
I wonder if I realize how quickly life is passing.  Have I seized the opportunities to live, really live in the present?  Did I realize the last time I was with Minx that this could be the end?  Did I appreciate how special it is to share time with each individual in the extended family and community which make up my life?     
 
It’s easy to get caught up in life’s process, blind to the opportunities, ignorant of what really matters.  The beauty of passing eras is to remember the gifts of those in our lives as well as appreciating the present.  Life may seem “like a woman having a baby, writhing in distress, screaming her pain as the baby is being born, that's how we were because of you, O God.  We were pregnant full-term.  We writhed in labor but bore no baby.  We gave birth to wind.  Nothing came of our labor.  We produced nothing living.  We couldn't save the world.”  (Isaiah 26.17, 18)  We can’t, God can.  We don’t, God does.  Everything is possible.