Animal Spirits

This is a piece about Animal Spirits. I have owned pets for a long time.some of them you get quite close to.They becomee an extension of your family, and of you. They become your best friends in the world.
*****
I had a girlfriend once, named Lisa. She was almost a midget, a tiny Jewess from Long Island, New York. She was a hippie chick, with an incredibly gifted chest. She owned this brilliant little black dog, named Max. Max was all black, with steaks of orange. He was a cross between a long haired terrier, and a dachshound.
Max was a very smart dog. Lisa had decided to move to Van Nuys, California in her little Volkswagen, and thought it best to leave Max with me, permanently. And so it goes.
*****
Max loved me with all his little heart. We would sometimes go on motorcycle adventures. Max would proudly straddle the gas tank while I blasted down the highway at 80 mph. Max was a champ.
*****
I later moved to Portland, and my parents inherited Max. My Mom would row out to the middle of the lake, and if Max was late for the ride he would swim all the way out there and hop into the boat. Then he would proudly stand guard near the prow of the boat, watching the woods and the water with keen intent. Max lived many years with my folks, and eveyone loved Max dearly. He was one of a kind.
*****
There will never be another Max. Max was a part of our family.
*****
Living in Portland, I had a cat named Heiko Thieme. She was named for who is now a dead German stock analyst who appeared on television from time to time. Heiko was a stray who showed up on my doorstesp one day. I think that the "free cheese" people down the street moved away in the dead of the night, leaving their poor kitty behind to fend for itself. I adopted this grey and orange tabby, and she moved right in with me.
*****
In the morning, I would get home about seven, and there would be Heiko, waiting for me on the front porch. I would feed her something, and then come in for a cup of coffee. IIn about fifteen minutes Heiko would be scratching at the front window, begging to be let in. We would then sleep for about five hours, and Heiko would go outside to attend to some cat business. We never used a litter box in my tiny house. Heiko had her own way of doing things, and never made a mess in the house once .She was a very smart cat.
*****
This was how we would spend the day. Heiko was in and out, but mostly in. I would read, and she would either be in a corner somewhere, watching me, or just taking a snooze. We got along great! I never had Heiko's claws clipped, as she loved to climb trees. Also she need those claws for balance and for defense, too.
*****
We were together for fourteen years. Then, one day, a car hit Heiko and broke her spine. I rushed her to the Vet's office in Gresham, where they put my poor cat to sleep. I drove home crying and sobbing. I had lost my best friend in the world.
*****
There were a couple of paranormal events associated with the death of this cat. Once, I left her alone for a couple of weeks, as I was back in Michigan visiting. My neighbors were knd enough to feed her while I was gone. When I returned, she was very sick, and could hardly eat. I nursed her back to health, and she was fine for the next five months. Then she got hit by a car.
*****
About two months before her fatal injury, we asleep together and I either had a waking dream, or a hallucination. What I experience was a dark, cloaked figure standing in the doorway of my bedroom, staring at me. I thought that what I was seeing was the Angel of Death. This scared me so much that I spent the next several hours in intense prayer, praying for protection from this evil presence.
*****
Heiko died, and a month passed by. I missed her every day. Then I got a call on my answering machine. It was only the sound of a cat purring, and this went on for about three minutes. After the call, I did a star 69, but there was no phone number. I think that Heiko was delivering a message from where ever she was that she was in a good place. At least that is how I prefer to look at this odd event.
*****
I believe that who we are, including animals, are more than the sum of our physical realm and our thinking minds. I think there is more to the story than that. I believe that we are all souls on a cosmic voyage of some kind, and that we are here to learn about the world, and to help each other, while on this Spiritual  Path.
*****
My Mother has a six year old cat, andd this cat is dying. Today I adopted two kittens for her to raise. They will soon grow up and replace the dead housecat.
*****
There will never be another Heiko Thieme.

Mr. Charming