7 thoughts on “Tuesday: Hili dialogue”

  2. She does. No offense to Andrzej, but she probably misses Malgorzata, don’t you think?

    1. Since Malgorzata’s death, I have been revisiting Wisława Szymborska’s “Cat in an Empty Apartment,” an achingly beautiful poem written after the death of her long-time partner. I hesitate to post it here in full because it might be too raw an expression for those who are grieving or for others who are recollecting past losses. Here, instead, is the link to the English translation as it first appeared in the NYRB.

      https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1993/10/21/cat-in-an-empty-apartment/

      1. Oh, boy. I’ve worried about dying before my pets for as long as I’ve lived alone and that’s been a long time. I have a couple friends who are in their late 70s and one recently adopted a puppy. The other brought 2 kittens into her life and was taken by lung cancer 6 months later. I realize any one of us can die at any time, but I wouldn’t bring kittens or puppies into my life at that age. (By the way, this is not any kind of a statement about Malgorzata or her age — whatever it was — when she took on Hili) I’m 65 and just recently had to put down my 12 year old dog. Each time I go through that I swear it was the worst ever. I intentionally adopted an “older dog” (my Mouna was 8 when I met her 4 years ago) knowing full well she didn’t have many years in her future. Everyone told me how “lucky she was” which I thought was a crock of shit. I was the lucky one. Who am I to turn my nose up at an older pet. I’m old, too! Nobody wants the older animals but they need a loving home just as much as any kitten or puppy. Tomorrow, a woman I met online is going to drop off 2 – 3 year old cats that her niece left her holding the bag with. She’s going on a trip she had planned long before her niece wound up on her doorstep with 2 cats in tow. I’m taking care of these cats for 3 weeks with the option to adopt if I fall in love with them. Should I? So many questions. All of my cats have lived to be 18. If these 2 did the same, that would put me at 80. Good gawd. What a thought. I’ve already outlived the statistics given the lifestyle I chose in my youth… Should I deprive these young cats of the great home I’m capable of providing them with? Should I deprive myself of the tremendous joy I can derive from feline companionship? How about protecting them from the possibility of my demise once they’ve grown attached to me? What about my own heart should one or both of them end up with some dreaded feline cancer? Life is full of risks. We gamble every day we wake up. I know a few old ladies who’ve made arrangements with a local cat rescue to take their cats when they (the humans) die. Those places require gobs of money up front for that service. I haven’t got that kind of money. Anyway, Hili ain’t doing poorly, at all. She’s got Andrzej and there are more cat lovers just upstairs. I’ve maybe gone on too long here. Thanks for the poem, Doug. It’s heartfelt.

  3. Jim and Debi, you exactly matched my thoughts as I gazed at Hili’s picture. Well said.

    Despite her sad expression, I think that’s one of the nicest pictures I’ve seen of Hili. I keep going back to it. Thank you, Andrzej.

    βPer

  5. Immediately when I saw the photo of Hili I thought that she looked sad; I’m glad others have noticed that as well. I also assume that, like Andrzej and others, she misses Malgorzata. That is a beautiful picture of her. Thank you, Andrzej.

Comments are closed.