Sophie
On January 22nd, just before noon, Sophie Pope stepped out of her slender and lately fragile feline body and headed for the stars, leaving behind her more than twenty years of shared and cherished memories.
Sophie was brought to me in 1997 by a volunteer who took her from a man standing outside the Orange County Animal Shelter begging someone to take her.....She was a young, shiny, fearful and quite gorgeous black spitfire with sparkling eyes way back then, and that was how I still saw her on Monday, some twenty years later.
Sophie had multiple pet names, Soph-moph, Sophie-Pope-ey, Sofia, Sofiken...and she loved them all. Sophie did not mix much with other cats, preferring to stay on task in her office and that suited us both just fine. She became my accomplished secretary, learned assistant and beloved confidante - and she moved house with BrightHaven four times with practiced ease! Here are videos of her doing the things she loved best:
Her health was not to prove as easy as, when very young, she developed lymphacytic-plasmacytic stomatitis and eventually had all her teeth removed. I can never thank her volunteer classical veterinary homeopath Dr. Pat Bradley enough for all she's done for Sophie over so many years, helping her transform into a beautiful being and the great light in my life.
Her later years brought minimal illnesses her way and her slightly failing kidneys and slightly elevated thyroid never became great problems. Sadly, or maybe happily, it was the tides of time that finally caught up with her small, wiry and elderly self and when her time came, she made her transition with such ease and peace that Blanca and I could scarcely believe she had left.
The night light in my office is out tonight for the first time in a very long while and I am left to wonder if I will ever again be fortunate to stroke one of the great loves of my life as I work.
And so now Sophie lies in state draped in a Buddhist prayer shawl, holding rose quartz crystals and adorned with a rose quartz necklace.
Of course she also has the BrightHaven teddy bear brigade to watch over her, as well as the dragonfly to bring transformation and light, and also the magical power of the unicorn. Her flowers are a gentle mix of pink and white.
Please join me in sending love, Reiki and prayers for her journey onwards and reunion with many old cat and dog friends.
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