TOPEKA - In Memoriam.
Please read of my friend Beaulieu. Yes, formally the namesake taken of wine.. but in our home, casually abbreviated. "Blues" shared his last curtain call, a final sleepover softly in my hand. It was a tough night for us both, neither appreciative of the foreshadowing ahead but he was not going to be alone, as our family is team beginning to end . Earlier the previous day we sought fluids for dehydration but tonight it was something else now or just too much for another day. The early morning offered a warming bath blanket of sunshine on the deck, we sat soaking it in, while asking to negotiate with the universe. Intermittent breeze flowed just enough to hear the Aspen leaves waving, the smells of first morning Joe, the bird chirp as if taking morning roll call, late June 2025. Time stood still for a while both ironically beautiful and yet equally brutal, daunting, surreal. Blues took it in as if to be aware as we whispered but it was time to go for help, to fix the unfixable.
Blues, was a perfect seal point Ragdoll. He was born in Portland Oregon, of Catlana Ragdolls, curated from a special blend of excellence under the careful love and oversight by Ms. Barb Jones. His air travel to Topeka was in late 2002. His body a plush silky cream, his points dark and his eyes in youth a piercing blue. Lindt only wishes they made such a chocolate as complexly sweet. He and his older brother were sought nationwide to put Rags on the map for Kansas and became near celebrities at our morning destination, University Vet Care Center. If you seek skilled compassionate professionals with a progressive edge, this is your vet. Barb kept current with Blues his entire adult life to include his very last day. She started as a preferred breeder in business, then the mom surrogate, then a real friend. Blues was the initial playmate to his big brother Beringer, a Blue-Mitted Ragdoll, who needed a friend but found a soulmate for a brother, a perfect complement, puzzle complete. Blues, contrasting his namesake found only friends in his journey and he left only good feelings behind. I wish more humans were as kind. There are a few but most all of us need insight and direction, or maybe reflection and healing, at times forgiveness and grace. Most just need a nudge of encouragement, a little hand up, and a friend like Blues. Strive to be that giving to someone during your time please. Blues was content to be the junior wingman at home but that's different than being bashful. He played equally hard, sang loud, sometimes when requested, chased leaves, and kept curious. He was always appreciative, always. He stayed for as long as he could both on deck and in physical life. He didn’t want to go, and I hated the pact of responsibility to evolve him when humane. Blues was the glue in our family but was foremost my friend, my boy, and a joy. I am so proud of his kindness and am somewhat lost in his wake. He was a part of my first home on Pembroke. The time of adulting. It was really the Rags domain and dad visited between shifts. Blues interviewed the girl that later became his mom. He played, slept, and mirrored his brother Beringer while his dad learned a career, and sat patiently waiting for third shift to end so the business of his day could begin. Something like this-breakfast, snack, play, lunch, snack, nap dinner, and whipped cream before night patrol began again and so was life. Blues outlived his peers and held the title chairman emeritus, "King of the Rowr". At end finding simple pleasures of a heated bed after everyone was home. Our time was a blur, a wonderful, tremendous blur that's hard to see through these eyes of today. Blues shared his love for 22 years, 7 months, 14 days. More cumulative time spent than with my parents or my wife. He did not complain once, and fought for every opportunity to demonstrate his love and be present by example. His songs, his cat rubs and yes his occasional gift of fur. Blues met our friend's children, and taught them to be kat sitters and saw them grow to young adulthood. So many purrts, and purrs, and greetings, and dances, and chases, and nose prints on glass. Tricks to perch before being fed or treats. Chasing the dog, being chased by the dog, biting the dog, yet sleeping with her too. If you needed a family man, an example of how to be beautiful, it was in Ragdoll Blues.
Namaste my friend, you are missed every day. I look to the stars until we meet again. Save a place, please, my forever sweet Beaulieu.