On Sunday, September 23rd, 2012, I will turn 50. 
This will be the last blahg I write before I reach my half century age. When I started doing this in September of 2011, I had hoped to write 100 blahgs before my next birthday. I then settled for 50 blahgs which would correspond to almost one blahg a week. The grand total, including this one, after a year of writing, is 20. That’s a new blahg every 18.25 days. I don’t know if that’s good or bad. Maybe I was unrealistic with my 100 or 50 expectations. Time is a precious commodity and things happen that prevent me from meeting my goals. Many of my previous blahgs have spoken about these things that happen. This blahg will not be an exception.
The last blahg, HELLO WASHINGTON, GOODBYE “THE LIFE OF RILEY” detailed our trip to Washington and back. It did not tell you what happened after the trip was over. We had left our three cats, Patches, June, and Frank locked safely in the house with lots of food and water for the three or four days we were gone. When we returned, we discovered that June was missing. She had managed to pick a hole in a second story screen window and had dropped to a lower roof and then the grass. It had taken a few hours of searching before we found her hiding in a wood pile at the side of our garage. She was fine and was returned to the house. 
Patches, however, presented us with a more difficult situation. She was eleven years old and incontinent but I still loved her. Over the four days we were gone, she developed a tumor on her stomach and by the size of it, it looked like it was ready to burst.
In a previous blahg I spoke about a cat named Panama that we had a few years ago. She too, developed a serious tumor in the same body region as Patches. We had had to do the humane thing and put Panama down. This was the same situation with Patches; we had to opt for euthanasia so that she would not suffer. The veterinarian agreed with our decision. It was very difficult for me to take Patches to the veterinarian’s office and have this done. I won’t deny that I cried. I made a decision after leaving the office I would purchase a new kitten to help transition us through this difficult time. We would miss Patches but we still had a home and love to give to a third kitten. I went to a local pet store that acquired their kittens through a local Animal Welfare Society. I thought that would be best because a rescued kitten deserves to be adopted. This is how we had acquired June originally and everything has worked out with her.
I have written a little bit before about our new kitten, Stella so I will quote from that blahg: “We recently adopted a new kitten. It’s been about twelve years since we’ve had a kitten in our home and Abbie, being the youngest child, has never had the chance to name one of our cats. I named Frank, the subject of a previous blahg “The Christmas Cat” and before that, June was already adopted pre-named. She was adopted from Robyn’s Nest in Picton, Ontario. This store adopts out animals that have been brought into the local animal welfare society so it’s only fitting that we provided a home for a rescued kitten. I don’t know the story behind our kitten but she was either brought into the local shelter or was born there. She has made a loving addition to our home and after two days, Abbie provided her with the name “Stella”. She’s very playful and she likes to sleep on me early in the morning. She is so small that I don’t feel her walking up me while I’m sleeping.”
It is with great sadness that I update that blahg entry to say that two weeks ago, we had to have Stella euthanized. 
We had only had her for two months. In the beginning she was very small and very playful but as she aged, she hardly grew in size. By the end of the summer, when she should have been four months old, she was not much bigger than when she came to us. She also began to lose her energy and sleep more as if she was an elderly cat. Her stomach also began to be extended. Naturally we were concerned. We took her to the veterinarian only to discover that Stella was very anemic and her blood counts were very low. She also had a very high fever. We didn’t understand everything but we knew this was very serious. The veterinarian thought it might be a parasite and provided us with liquid medication to give to Stella and to follow up with another visit in a week’s time.
Over that week, Stella’s energy returned and her fever subsided. Unfortunately her stomach distension continued and she had a hard time carrying around the extra weight. She would still climb up on the bed in the morning to wake me but it came at great difficulty for her. We contacted the veterinarian and took her back in. The news was not good. They believed that Stella had tumors and her new blood tests showed that her blood counts were worse. They said she would not live another week and recommended euthanasia. I knew this would be best for Stella and took her into another room for a few quiet minutes. I kissed her and thanked her for coming into our life. That is all I will say other than I miss her dearly.
Continuing on with this sad theme, I want to relate something I discovered yesterday. I think I have mentioned before that I attended Quinte Secondary School and Trent University. If I haven’t mentioned that then take note because it’s important. Yesterday we received our Trent Alumni magazine that we receive a few times a year. There are always updates about current Trent activities and updates on previous Trent alumni. There’s always somebody getting married or having a baby or working somewhere significant. Occasionally they report on the deaths of some alumni. Yesterday, there was a death notice. I’ll repeat it verbatim:
Sherry Ann Lewis (née Cornwall) ’82 died on March 17 at the age of 49, surrounded by her family, after a sudden battle with cancer. From Belleville, Ontario, she came to Trent for an Honours Business degree, and then built a successful career in Ontario and, for the past 20 years, in Calgary. A memorial Mass was held in Belleville on July 14. If friends wish, please donate to the Gleaners Food Bank in Sherry’s memory. Condolences may be sent to www.rememberingsherry.ca.
I had known this person and now she was gone.
I can only say that I was not a close friend to Sherry. We had both attended Quinte Secondary School and shared some classes and occasionally I would run into her at Trent despite not being in the same program. She always had an infectious smile and sing-song sort of voice that always gave out with kind words. I wish I had known her better. The last time I saw her was almost thirty years ago. She was waitressing at The Duke of Beaufort Pub in Belleville. She was still very pretty and still had a kind word.
I have been very sad since reading of her passing. Last night and today, I could not get Sherry out of my mind. I even visited the remembrance web-site mentioned in her obituary. It is full of photos of her over the years. Most were of her adult married life and I knew nothing of that. 
I didn’t know her husband and I didn’t know her children. I guess I’m grieving that someone my own age is gone and it’s too soon. I know I’m turning 50 on Sunday but that’s too young to start having people your own age dying. She was an old memory and I thought of her often because she was a pretty girl and remember being attracted to her. I’m glad she had a good life. I do not have any photos of Sherry other than the one in my High-school yearbook. I am borrowing this photo from her remembrance site because it immediately reminded me of the face of Sherry I remember. I hope her family is okay with this.
My fondest memory of Sherry was from our grade 10 English class with Mr. Thompson. She arrived late one day and apologized for having slept in. She added that Mr. Thompson should not consider her late for today but early for tomorrow. She got away with it. Sadly, she was early again this time for her own funeral. People joke that a certain person would be late for his/her own funeral. I’d take that. I’d rather be late and cheat death as long as I can than to die too soon. Sherry left this world too soon. Old memories stay with us the longest and I’m sure I’ll remember Sherry for a long time.