g r a v i t y

Mom and I dug a grave Saturday.

After paying a very awkward and apologetic veterinarian to fill the veins of my mom’s 17 1/2 year old Blue Point Siamese with a candy pink fluid, we watched this tiny slip of a kitty peacefully “fall asleep.” Her forced shallow breathing slowed and then stopped. We cried while mom carried the box to the car both of us remarking that Claire was heavier dead.

After rushing around Portland for various last minute supplies, we raced out to Lovell to dig a grave before it was too dark. Digging a grave after the sun is down, even a very small one, is just too creepy... and impractical.

Mom wanted to bury Claire in Lovell where other family pets “rest.” I understand that my grandfather even buried a horse at the upper end of the field.

It took us roughly 30 minutes to make our way through various levels of Lovell earth to reach a safe 2 1/2 feet. The tight circumference and rocky soil hindered our progress making it impossible to reach the recommended three feet. New England land is tough. (Stone walls are beautiful and were a smart way to mark property for pragmatic settlers who needed to clear fields of ancient glacial debris.) Besides the tough earth blunting our shovels we also ran into a lot of water from recent rains creating an uninviting cold mud puddle at the bottom of the hole. So difficult for my mom considering she was just kissing her kitty’s warm head earlier that morning.

We wrapped her in a white cloth after taking one last look at her curled up peacefully inside a tiny shoebox. All of the levels of earth were then piled back in the hole on top of Claire with the rocks last to mark the grave.

No eulogy but a simple goodbye.

We returned the next morning to check for any evidence of furry grave robbers but instead found a feral cat sitting in the early winter sun on a huge boulder two feet from Claire’s grave. Finding a cat outside in this rural part of Maine is unusual. We agreed that this vigilant cat was there to keep Claire company.

Or was it there to show mom Claire was not alone?