July 25, 2009: A Lesson I learned From A Best Friend

I was working on something different for this show, an episode in which we might look at decoding Dan Brown and his writings.  But on Tuesday, July 21st, One of my very best friends wrote a new chapter into my life, and opened my eyes to see far more than I intended to ever see.

For all that I'd been through, this was the first time that I'd been with someone at the time they crossed over from this life to the next.  Death is something which some people prefer to not discuss.  Nevertheless, it is the one life-event which each and every one of us will face eventually.  And he made an effort to share his with me. 

His name was Lionheart.  He was a cat, of the variety some people call "American shorthair," or what some people call "tuxedo" because his coat made him look as if he were in such formal attire.

He came into Lady Stormy's life about three years before I did.  She literally rescued him off of the streets, saving him from a crowd of kids who were abusing him.  I was known to refer to him as Lord Pan's "vice president".

He and I became close the moment we met.  Then again, that would be expected from the way he introduced himself to me. 

And at the end, he held on until I was there.

And I think there was much that he was trying to tell me.  And yet the most profound lesson I learned was both subtle and obvious.  I'm hoping you can see it in what I offer here.