Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Remembering Homer the Blind Wonder Cat

Cats make life better. 
Cats make their way into your heart. 
And that's where they live forever. 
~Unknown

Homer!

I am so sad to be writing this post today, after hearing that my dear friend Gwen Cooper's cat, Homer, has gone to the rainbow bridge just over a week ago. Sweet little Homer was 16 years old, and I know he treasured every one of those sixteen years with Gwen, Laurence, and of course Vashti, Scarlett, Fanny and Clayton.

Gwen and I became friends after all of our interviews and I finally met her in person in September 2012.

Not only will Homer be missed by his family, but by his extended family that consists of everyone who has been touched by his story. I know for one, that Gwen and Homer's story is one of my absolute favorites. I'm so glad my mom picked up a copy of Homer's Odyssey quite a few years ago in Barnes and Noble. Otherwise, I never would have become great friends with Gwen, interview her for my high school newspaper and get to feature her on my blog! You can read those posts here (Love Saves the Day, Homer's Heroes/Gwen's Blog, Gwen Cooper Interview).


Photo courtesy of Gwen Cooper.

Gwen wrote a tribute to Homer, to let her fans know of his passing. A few of my other friends have posted about Homer which you can read on Cat Wisdom 101, Cat Chat and Catsparella.

Silly Homer bear.

Gwen donates 10% of her royalties from Homer's Odyssey to rescues and shelters that serve abused, abandoned, and disabled animals. She is in the process of creating the Homer's Heroes Fund, which each year will contribute a portion of the proceeds from all her books to a shelter, sanctuary, or rescue group doing outstanding work on behalf of special-needs animals. Homer was an ambassador for these animals, and it's a legacy that Gwen is trying to keep alive.

Gwen's new book, Love Saves the Day -- is a novel about a New York family, narrated by a rescue cat named Prudence -- will be released in paperback on October 22nd. For every copy of the paperback pre-ordered or sold between now and October 27th, Gwen will donate 100% of her royalties to Blind Cat Rescue and Sanctuary in Homer's name.

For those who haven't read Love Saves the Day, it is a heart warming story and I did a review of it which you can read here.



Gwen & Homer.

Fly free, Homer 1997-2013. Eras much gato.

Monday, August 26, 2013

Pearl's Basement Excavations: Shoes & Henry's Surprise

No matter what Pearl brings up from the basement, it is always a surprise. We always wonder where she found the item and what made it appealing for her to carry in her mouth.

The other day, Pearl came up with a baby doll shoe. Actually, I'm not totally sure it wasn't one of my baby dress up shoes from when I was little! It's so cute, with the beading detail. I guess Pearl liked the ribbons it has  to tie the shoe on.

Surprisngly, Henry (Pearl's husband) brought something up from the basement last night. This is somewhat out of character for him, so I figured it was too odd not to post about!

Henry brought up two rubber bracelets (the "Livestrong" bracelets, if you will). He carried them up in his mouth and was chewing on them. Henry has a problem with pica and he pretty much chews anything when he gets bored. He is known to munch on paper back books, school textbooks, any paper that comes out of the printer, paper bags and even leather purses.

The bracelets were definitely well hidden in the basement, because none of us recognized them.

Pearl and Henry, in a heart shape, after a hard night's excavations.


Until the next basement excavation...!