This month marks 16 years with Aremid. This cat defines me. There is no Toastie without Aremid.
But there will be someday. He can’t outlive me, because I don’t know who’d take him in.
And he may be on his ninth life right now. He’s been getting by with his hypothyroidism and irritable bowel for the last couple of years, with daily methimazole and prednisalone. But he’s been losing weight again and not being himself. He’s been hiding. He’s been listless, at times, and lethargic the rest of the time. He eats when there’s food in front of him, but I don’t see him making the effort to go and eat. He usually responds to me, but I am used to him always responding to me. His vocalizations, which have generally been whiny and annoying for 16 years, are now meek.
So it was not good news when the results came back from the vet that all of his bloodwork came out fine. This means we don’t know what’s wrong. We’ll probably put him on an antibiotic just in case there’s an undetected infection.
I should break out my real camera, which has been out of sight since Mexico six months ago, but I suppose I don’t really want great pictures of Aremid looking so bad.
He actually doesn’t look quite so bad in the picture from the vet’s office back on Friday. But he seem to have gotten worse over the last three days.
All this being said, I am not at all ready for the “he’s lived a good life” sentiments.
That being said, he’s right next to me on the couch now, and, the way he looks right now, I’m worried.
A woman I occasionally work with is leaving her position. She is out on the West Coast, so we have mostly interacted via IM. We have been on phone calls, and, as she reminded me, we once “met” over telepresence (which I will make a common noun). We were IMing earlier, likely for the last time.
Her: I always wish I could talk like you, so cool and collected.
Me: Hahaha.
To paraphrase Michelle Obama, I have never been more proud of any President.
Hours after North Carolina embarrassed itself, the President of the United States took a surprising stand by declaring definitively that he supports marriage equality. Say what you will about the potential political calculation of the statement. EVERYTHING a President says on record is politically calculated. This doesn’t mean President Obama would not have said it if he didn’t mean it.
There are plenty of reasons to think this will hurt Obama politically. Then again, you will have a President who has made some gutsy decisions versus a candidate who is the antithesis of gutsy. Then again, there are supposedly a whole army of disillusioned young people who might have been staying home in 2012. I don’t think they will now. Who is against marriage equality and was planning to vote for Obama as of yesterday, anyway?
Even if Obama loses, for whatever reasons, he has just done something monumental in American history. 61% of North Carolinians and roughly half of all Americans will ultimately be on the wrong side of history. Obama just taken a stand for what is right and just.
I think I might finally click on one of those Barack and Michelle ads and tell them “I’m all in.”
North Carolina IS the backwards, ignorant cess pool of stupidity that people from more civilized places have always said it is.
I’ve never been ashamed to live in this state. I am tonight.
Most of the people who voted for the amendment have no idea what they’ve just done. And that’s not my fault or your fault for not educating them. At some point, we have to have some faith in each other. At least, I would like to think that. But that’s incredibly ignorant and stupid, isn’t it?
I truly admire activists who never give up the fight for progressive change. I cannot be such an activist. That requires a speck of optimism in humanity.
Am I being a bit harsh?
Nope, this is what I want to say for posterity, which is no less harsh than what the majority of voters of North Carolina just did today. They will be far more embarrassed in the years to come than I will be by anything I write tonight.
And this doesn’t even directly impact me. I can’t imagine what it feels like to have your fellow citizens decide that you do not have the right to the family you want.
I should have done this during early voting. But if you haven’t voted yet, and you either don’t plan to vote today or don’t know why you should be voting AGAINST Amendment One, here’s why:
The rights of ALL UNMARRIED COUPLES will be restricted
Discrimination will be embedded in the state constitution, reminiscent of the 1875 amendment that passed to ban interracial marriage
Health insurance access to unmarried couples and their children will be restricted
Domestic violence protections for unmarried couples for will jeopardized
No civil unions will not be a possibility; again, domestic partnerships other than heterosexual marriages will have zero recognition under state law
The state’s economy will suffer; businesses that value diversity and equal rights for employees will not relocate to N.C.
AND
I have friends who have been happily partnered for many years. They long to be parents. They are in the process of adopting. North Carolina will allow them to adopt, and they’ll be terrific parents. However, if the amendment passed, only one of them will have the right to legally be the child’s parent. This is ridiculous, it’s terrible for children, and it will be the law, unless a majority of voters vote against the amendment tomorrow.
I’ve said my peace. May my state do the right thing tomorrow.
Amendment One is not merely “the gay marriage amendment”. But the impetus for the amendment, its sponsors will tell you, is the word of God, and God’s condemnation of homosexuality.
I don’t study the Bible. Fortunately, President Bartlet does.
That’s just an arbitrary number. It may be somewhere between zero and five. And you may not necessarily be planning to vote for Amendment 1. You may just not be planning to vote. (And I’m just referring to those reading this who live in North Carolina.) This post may not change your mind. I’ll post something else later that might. But I saw this and thought this guy Zach Wahls is a great spokesperson for why The Amendment is bad. It is NOT “the marriage amendment”, by the way. Remember, same-sex marriage is already illegal in North Carolina. The Amendment will potentially deny all unmarried couples rights that they may currently enjoy. Well, more on that in another post. Just watch this.
