Skip to main content

Juniors Tribute

This morning, there is something missing from my life. There's an empty space on the back of our sofa where my companion Tony Junior (Jr.) usually sleeps or watches the world go by through the window, perched on his soft, red, fuzzy blanket. There, he waits for me to join him in a nap so he can climb onto my chest, settle in, and purr as I gently scratch his chin and behind his left ear.

You see, last night, October 10, 2023, Jr. quietly passed at about 11:30 p.m. Needless to say, I’m heartbroken. As I write this, tears are streaming down my cheeks. You see, Jr. was my special friend like no other. He never complained; he was always there to greet me every morning, at night, returning from a mountain trip, or just from a daily walk around the neighborhood. Junior, our indoor cat, had a routine of following me around the house. He never wanted to venture outside - he considered our home “his castle.” I could set my watch to his predictable daily routines. And he knew mine. See What the Cat Heard. He would jump onto my lap whenever I was seated and start purring softly. With his motor running, he would roll over, stretch out, and allow me to vigorously rub his tummy - and he loved it. (Caution don't try this with just any cat - you will get the Sh*t scratched out of you.) Junior was more than just a pet to me; he was my special buddy, and I cherished his companionship.

You see, in the past few weeks, Jr. began to show signs of his age; now over 15 years old, he was unable to keep food down, and refused to eat. We took him to his Vet, and interestedly, all of his vitals were fine. They did blood work, and no signs of any issues. Somewhat dehydrated, he was given fluids, and when we got home, he went directly to his bowl to eat something, which was very encouraging. Then, within a few days, he was again unwilling to eat. The doctor prescribed some medication that helped for a while. He would eat very small portions, but he was losing a lot of weight, strength, coordination, and vigor.

He never complained, never showed any signs of pain, sat stoically, and made sure I was following my routines. Then he would sleep. He became weaker, and yesterday, when we returned home from work there, he sat, quietly, stoically - yet on the floor a few feet from his litter box was a very large pool of blood. We took him to the animal hospital and urgent care. After a thorough diagnosis of a large lump in his abdomen, his temperature dropping, and anemic blood levels, he was undoubtedly checking out of our world. We will miss you deeply, dear friend - God’s speed.

Unfortunately, my dear friends, I'm afraid it won't be possible to record a podcast this week without experiencing a breakdown. So, as a tribute to Junior’s memory, I’ve attached to this blog the post - Juniors Jungle Gym so you can experience Junior at his best and we can relive the wonderful memories of a day in my companion Junior's long, loving life.

I’m Patrick Ball. Thanks for your prayers and well wishes. I’ll see you in the next episode.

Comments

Most Popular of All Time

Beyond Facts-The Deep Dive

✨ In this episode, Beyond Facts: Reimagining School–in the Age of AI . . .   This week's podcast is a bit different; it's another example of how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can offer tools to creatively enhance your analytical presentation of information. We took this week's blog and copied it into Gemini with the question, “If a story is to work, it must, on some level, create an illusion of escape and also achieve a goal simultaneously. Does this apply to my blog post that follows?” What's created is not just an analysis of the writing, but an AI-generated discussion produced “On the Fly” - Enjoy! Did you know that the word "school" comes from the ancient Greek word scholÄ“ , which originally meant "leisure"? Not a rigid schedule or droning lectures filled with "facts," but free time for thinking and conversation. To the Greeks, learning happened best when life slowed down—when you had room to reflect, to ask questions, and to wrestle ...

Chasing the Magic

In this episode, Chasing the Magic: How the Summer of ’98 Inspired the 'Ball Boys' . . .  Do you remember that feeling? The late-summer air was thick with humidity, radios crackling on porches, the smell of fresh-cut grass and barbecue smoke in the backyard. Every evening carried a new kind of suspense—the country holding its collective breath after every pitch. “Did he hit one today?” became more than a question; it sparked a nationwide conversation.   For me, and millions of others, the summer of 1998 wasn’t just another baseball season. It was theater, a movement, a time when the game recaptured something sacred. As sportswriter Mike Lupica said so perfectly,   “No matter how old you are or how much you’ve seen, sports is still about memory and imagination. Never more than during the summer of ’98, when baseball made everyone feel like a kid again, when it felt important again.”    Just four years earlier, the 1994 players’ strike had left the sport bruised...

Retirement Talk

In this episode, Patrick & Huck: Retirement Talk . . .   We all get caught daydreaming sometimes, don’t we? Just like Tom Sawyer or Huck Finn might’ve done, lazyin’ by the river with a fishing pole in hand and the BIG wide world spinn’ in their heads. This morning, with coffee steaming and plans bubbling, I found myself driftin’ into a chat with none other than my imaginary friend–Huck Finn himself. Patrick: “Mornin’, Huck. Say, I’m mighty curious what you’d make of this retirement business.” Huck: “Well now, sit tight, ‘cause I’ve been thinkin’ on that too. Only thirty-one days 'til you're sixty-nine — whew! You're talkin’ ‘bout quittin’, hangin’ up your spurs, Givin’ the workin’ life its final good slurs. Ain’t got no debts, no mortgage, no fuss, Just clean livin’ and freedom waitin’ on the bus. Most folks’d throw hats in the air, cheerin’ loud and proud, But you? You’re starin’ out yonder, lost in some cloud. You're dreamin’ of cyclin' and books and guitar...

Drifting with Purpose

In this episode,  Drifting with Purpose: What Huck Finn Teaches Us About Finding Your ‘Why’ . . .  Have you ever re-read a book and felt like it had changed while you weren’t looking? That’s exactly how it feels diving back into Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn . I’ll admit, I didn’t expect to be swept away again . It had been decades since I first met Huck and Jim. But here I am – older, hopefully wiser – and finding their journey down the Mississippi more powerful and more relevant than ever. This isn’t just another dusty classic. Twain's masterpiece is a living, breathing story – one that speaks through laughter, danger, awkward truth, and uncomfortable beauty. It’s a book that dares you to ask: “What kind of person am I willing to be?” Right now, I’m deep into Huck and Jim’s incredible journey, and what’s striking me the most isn’t just the plot or the river—it’s the voice. Twain’s masterful use of local dialect pulls you straight into the 19th-century Amer...