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It's that time of year again, and for once in Louisiana, the weather suits the holiday. It's cold, it's dreary, and it has forced me indoors to contemplate on those who have come before. For our hop, we were asked to honor our ancestors or someone who has passed beyond who has influenced us in some way. However, I've been lucky in at least one way in life and that's that I have not lost too many close family members in some time.I feel remarkably lucky that when thinking on who I want to honor in my post today, I thought of my loving and dearly departed Cottonball who passed last year. He spent 17 years with my family, and though not all of them were the best, I tried to make his last years a continuous spa day for him. Perhaps it's odd that of all the people in the universe who have passed, I have chosen my loving cat. However, I think all of us who are pet owners have a story of a difficult time in our lives when the "person" who was there for us through it all was our beloved animal. Cottonball was utterly devoted to me through my two-year long series of health issues, treatments, and recovery. He slept on my chest for every forced nap I took. He tapped me on my shoulder as I worked from home -- almost a sweet reminder that hey, hey you... You're not alone. I'm here.It devastated me when he got sick. It hit him so quickly. After everything, I never expected cancer to take my sweet kitty so suddenly. The loss hit me on so many levels. I felt as though cancer was taking everything away from me. On his last day, I found him collapsed and unable to get back up. I took him to the vet, swaddled in a warm towel, and held him until he went to sleep forever. He had cuddled me through everything. I was most certainly not going to let him go without his family next to him.And so of course, I also could not move into my new home without bringing him with me. I felt as though it would be a betrayal to him to separate his final resting place from his family. I opted to have him cremated, and he resides on my hearth alongside a brass cat statue to honor his devotion to his family.For today's thinning veil, I did a reading to communicate with my sweet kitty. Despite my penchant for spooky decks this time of year, I chose to use the deck I associate most with him — The Mystical Cats Tarot by Lunaea Weatherstone . After he passed, I felt an immense amount of guilt. I felt like I hadn't done enough, but a reading with this deck helped me feel at peace after his passing.— I don't have to suffer in silence. I don't have to carry burdens alone. I don't have to let the bird sit on me if I don't want it to. I can eat it if I really truly want. Cottonball rarely complained in life. Something he probably got from his family. He just carried his disappointments without a single meow, even when his bowl wasn't full.— It's okay to slow down. Life doesn't have to be a mad rush. He was never one to run willy nilly all over the house. He was a dignified floof. Walk slow. Walk with dignity.— Move on from the things that get me all soaked and bothered. I don't have to be a pissy kitty about it. I'll dry off eventually if I just keep moving and stay away from what might drown me. Letting go of the past and releasing intense nostalgia for a time before has been a struggle for me. I think he's reminding me that things do get better, even if he's not there to cuddle me.