A Tribute to Binga

It’s always sad when a friend’s cat dies. My heart hurts for what I know they’re about to go through as they mourn their loss. We’ve all been there, and even though everyone grieves in their own unique way, we all know how hard it is. Late last week, Janiss Garza, the human behind Sparkle Cat, Featuring Summer, Therapy Cat and Kitty on the Go, had to make the sad decision to let Binga go.

I never met Binga in real life, but I feel like I knew her through Janiss’ blog. I met Janiss at my first Cat Writers Conference in 2009, and I’ve been following her writing ever since.

Binga was almost 19  years old – a good long life by any measure, but she was such a strong presence in the world of cat blogging, I guess I somehow thought she would live forever. In true tortie fashion, she was the bane of her fellow feline family members’ existence, and she frequently tried to steal Summer’s time in the spotlight during photoshoots.

Binga may not have invented tortitude, but she took being a tortie seriously. I think her 10 Tortie Life Lessons are words to live by!

Summer announced Binga’s imminent passing in a sweet blog post titled Binga and Me last Friday.

Our hearts go out to Summer, Boodie and their human. We know Janiss does not believe in the Rainbow Bridge, but we would like to leave her with this quote from Antoine de Saint Exupéry, which I’ve always found comforting during times of great personal loss:

In one of the stars I shall be living.
In one of them I shall be laughing.
And so it will be as if all the stars were laughing
when you look at the sky at night.

May your tortitude continue to sparkle in the stars, Binga.

All photos ©Janiss Garza, via Sparklecat’s Facebook page

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