Godspeed, Romeo

In loving memory

Clouds darken the sky

The stars rain down

The constellations stagger

The bones of the hell hounds tremble

The porters are silent

When they see this king

Dawning as a soul

In June 2013 I returned to Canada after spending 5 years in America. The last two and a half years or so of that time, I was involved in an incredibly abusive relationship. How abusive? I'll never go into great detail in public, but suffice it to say I had to sleep with a weapon under my pillow for the first couple of months after I got back.

Fortunately I was able to move in with my sister from another mister, Heather. She was a bigger part of my psychological recovery that I've ever really been able to convey to her. And as it often goes with abusive relationships, I had been isolated from all of my friends and family, and I needed to have that sense back.

Heather was a big part of my recovery, but so was another member of the household. His name was Romeo.

He flies who flies

This king flies away from you

Ye mortals

He is not of the earth

He is of the sky

Romeo was a little orange guy, and a bit of a brat. His ability to generate amusement was inspiring. His older adoptive brother Daxter was the loud but affectionate one. Romeo, on the other hand? He was the one who knew the value of silence, especially when prying open the kitchen cabinet containing the catnip. Ingenuity, combined with stubbornness: what else would you expect from a Taurus with Moon in Virgo?

He goes to the sky

He goes to the sky

On the wind

On the wind

-Philip Glass, Akhenaten

I loved him so much. Everyone did.

Yesterday evening Romeo earned his wings. He had been in pain, with osteosarcoma eating away at his right shoulder and spreading outward. With a retrograde Mars transiting over my natal Moon and Ascendant in Cancer, I expected some form of heartbreak. And as Saturn disappeared under the local Western horizon, Romeo was gone.

He is no longer of the Earth. He is of the sky.

See you down the road, little buddy.