I'm not sure how this new nickname came about for my kitty Gypsy, but it seemed to fit sometime last week when I was hanging out at my girlfriend's house. She really bonded with the kitty and vice versa, so whenever she felt like the time was right, she and I would come and stay for a few days. At some point, the girlfriend's allergies would dictate that it's time for Gypsy to go home, but by and large a wonderful time was had by all. Gypsy seemed to reserve her most playful moods for those visits. It brought real joy to see those two play and cut up together. It looked like the beginnings of a really happy family.
I don't know what I'd do without so many good friends. Some of them even have blogs (see my sidebar to the right with their links) that have been written like this one in recent days by my friend The Reluctant Bachelor - talk about timely wisdom. Though I wasn't married to this incredibly wonderful gal that has left me with the blues, the message is the same. I hope I can keep this nugget of wisdom in mind in the coming weeks and months. Maybe she will see it too and it will be of some comfort to her as well. I know I felt that way about her.
Fall is just around the corner. Football season is here. It is easily my most favorite time of year. She and I were just talking about how we agree on that. It's cooler, the fall colors are greatly anticipated and even the early darkness seems a little more exciting to me. It may just be the change in seasons which I love. But Autumn is also about the dying of the leaves, and I guess there's a little something that just died in me. I'm not sure. I am definitely not quite my usually chipper self right now.
I know the memory of countless heartwarming & close times will live on in my heart and hers and there's the mutual hope that our friendship will endure. She really was my best friend, we both said that often in the last few months when things were less than rosy.
Only time and perspective will tell. And that's it really, isn't it? Time. "Time changes everything" as Bob Wills once sang. Maybe her heart will change. Maybe mine will and I'll never be able to go back to that place where we were. But as I said as recently as this week (we both loved to watch football games), I'm the guy you want holding the football when you are down by 6 and the clock is running out with no time-outs.
But back to my silent partner. She's been here from the start. My ex-girlfriend from 8 years ago, a truly wonderful human herself, said Gypsy should come live with me when we split up. She was so wise in knowing I'd need some company in the lonely months ahead. Now that the months have become many years, Gypsy's been the one daily constant in my life since then. She's seen several potential big-time / not-so-big-time romances come and go. She's sat and listened to me work out songs about what went wrong or how happy I was or just trying to work out life's big questions. She's always there with a nuzzle and a warm hug when I pick her up in my arms like a baby. I'm so thankful for her right now.
