Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2013/11/22
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I'm so sorry about Kofi! We get so attached to our furry friends and miss them so much when they are gone. On this day in 1963, I was a college freshman in Alabama and a senator had come to speak to our class. At lunch we were all in the cafeteria and the senator was sitting at a table when one of his aides brought up a transistor radio. We all gathered around to hear the news and then fled to our dorms to watch CBS. It was unbelievable to our very innocent group. It certainly doesn't seem like it was 50 years ago. Tina On Sat, Nov 23, 2013 at 12:22 AM, Douglas Barry <imra at iol.ie> wrote: > Today will not be a day I forget easily. It's JFK's anniversary and I have > another reason. I'm sure you all remember where you were at the time and > what you were doing. At 13 years of age, I was upstairs in my bedroom - > specifically in "Alcantara", Granville Road, Foxrock Co. Dublin - writing > an English essay - I used to remember the name of it up unto about ten > years > ago - when at at around 7.15pm GMT my father called up to me that President > Kennedy had been shot. We were all horrified. > > JFK & Jackie had only been in Ireland that June, so the fact that he was so > young, so friendly, so outgoing, the first US President to ever visit > Ireland, had the Jackie factor, and was of Irish descent, endeared him to > everyone here. The pair of them cut a colourful swathe through Irish hearts > who were used to the bleak flat pronouncements of stooped grey Irish > politicos like Eamon de Valera. To all of us Irish, the shots in Dallas had > killed one of our family, and robbed us of a brighter future. > > Wish I could remember the name of that essay now. It's probably incipient > Alzheimers.... > > Yet, today, at 12.08pm GMT, another more personal tragedy as our cat passed > on. Kofi was 16 and had developed cancer recently. Losing his sight a few > months earlier, he still managed to navigate well. He used to spend each > day > outdoors, stay indoors during the evening with us, and sleep outdoors at > night. However, once he had developed cancer, we let him sleep in the > dining > room with a litter tray. > > Yesterday evening, he started to do small circles of confusion, seemed > quite > unwell, and later it took me a while to get him to stay in his bed. This > morning, I found him jammed in an alcove in the tight space between a > cabinet and the wall. He couldn't reverse himself out and I didn't know how > long he'd been there. So, reluctantly, my 21 year old son and I took him to > the vet. The prognosis was grim, so my son agreed to let him be put down. > One injection to make him sleep after about ten minutes, then two in the > heart, and then, after a further five minutes, another two were needed, as > he was fighting mightily the onset of the eternal shadows, and he was gone. > > Kofi was a great mouser, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKIqSF3kBnk and, > much to our delight, a great ratter too. Unfortunately, as well as slaying > a > large number of the rodent family, much to our dismay, he had a taste for > birds which he dumped as offerings at the back door. The largest offering > was a splendid cockatoo which must have heartbreaking for some loving > family. > > He'll be missed, but the Kennedy memorial industry will always remind us of > Kofi's anniversary..... > > Here are the two final pictures of him. > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/DouglasBray/Kofi.jpg.html > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/DouglasBray/Kofi_s+Last+Journey.jpg.html > > Incidentally, how many of you remember where you were & what you were doing > on that day in 1963? > > Douglas > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > > -- Tina Manley http:// <http://tina-manley.artistwebsites.com/>www.tinamanley.com