Time for the good morning stretches. 🙆🏻‍♀️🙆🏾‍♂️

When Quark came home after his overnight stint at the shelter for tube feeding—when he miraculously came home to his mommy and auntie and cousins and siblings after we thought he was going to spend six months under medical supervision before undergoing surgery for cleft repair—we had a little chat. Quark and Quantum and Leap and I sat on the couch and had a heart-to-heart.

“We got him back,” I said, “but we only get to keep him if he gains weight. This is going to be a TEAM EFFORT, friends. We’re gonna all need to work together. We need Quantum’s boobies and Leap’s boobies, and Quark’s gotta be ALL IN. Like, he’s gotta go for gold. Suction CHAMPION status. Cover of Time Magazine. Box of Wheaties. Nike sponsorship. WORLD CLASS athlete. Which is a BIG ASK, I know. BUT THE REWARDS ARE GREAT, and I am not asking you to go it alone. I am stepping in as coach. I will monitor progress, set goals, and dose the little dude with performance enhancers like I am part of the Russian Federation. STATE SPONSORED SYRINGES OF FORMULA, y’all. It’s kitten doping, and I am HERE FOR IT.”

It was a very serious meeting, as you can imagine, but we hashed out the details swiftly, and we walked away on the same page. Hands in. Team cheer. Focused on success.

Well, I am happy to report Team Quark has exceeded all expectations. Quantum, Leap, and Quark apparently got together behind my back and decided to edge me out entirely. They were all, “We got this, but we’re playing a clean game. No formula. Just consistent training and hard work.” This little man has stayed attached to a nipple at all hours. He takes breaks to run cross country on exploration missions, mapping routes for the sibs as part of his endurance training. And he’s gaining weight apace the others or surpassing them when he’s feeling like a show-off. 🙌🏼😂

I’m still weighing him multiple times per day—along with the Tinies who still need the Russian Federation—but it’s been DAYS now sans-supplementation, and he only continues to improve.

Praise be!

We good. We just over here thinking deep thoughts. Contemplating the universe. Breathing deep breaths. Remembering that BEing is just as important as DOing. Embracing the value of rest.

I used to think animals were a wonderful conduit to help children understand the circle of life. Especially in western culture where we tend to ignore loss and pain. Where we shove grief down or aside. Where we are stunned when the humans we love die because we feel like we ought to be able to prevent accidents with wisdom and caution and to heal disease with knowledge and foresight. We are, in short, not inclined as a culture to embrace lament. To feel our feelings. To sit with heartache in tragedy. So I used to think animals were a wonderful conduit to help children understand all that. And now that I’m older, I think animals are a wonderful conduit to help grownups understand, too. Because God knows I need help with the understanding. Help with the sitting. Help with the feeling. Help with the enduring.

With animals, we’re willing to suspend our disbelief in death because, with animals, we know death will come. And so we’re able to hold the duality of love and loss better than we are, perhaps, with each other.

Recently, Kira Purlyte asked about the Q kitten we lost when Quantum went in for her emergency C-section. “What is the name of Q6? Did it inadvertently became ‘the one who shall not be named’? (I know, I know – just kittens. But as a mama of multiple Q6s I can’t let it go…)” And I responded, “NOT just kittens, and I totally understand. I have 3 Q6s, so I feel you. I almost named Q6 Schödinger because he’s not alive here but he’s alive in Heaven, but then I didn’t because I was afraid ppl would think I was making light of Q6’s death. There are too many mommies like us who are tender about this. To answer your question, I didn’t name him, and I love your heart for caring about this. ❤️ Would you like to name him?”

Well, friends, I’m honored to let you know Kira did. And his name is… EQUAM “Quicksilver”.

Kira explains it’s “a spinoff to the Schödinger’s cat idea, a project EQUAM managed to ‘see’ the cat both dead and alive at the same time. It’s not a famous physicist, because nowadays breakthroughs are teamwork. And Quicksilver for the symbolism of slipping through our fingers.”

❤️💔❤️

Good night, friends. Sweet kitten dreams. ❤️ Until tomorrow.