26 May News from Experienced Goods June 2021
Aldo
From Jennie Reichman
I had every intention to write about bathing suits this month. It’s June, temperatures have been balmy, and Vermont’s lakes, ponds and rivers beckon with cool relief. Bathing suits are still on the docket, but I want to spend a little time writing about something that is a bit more relevant to the Hospice mission: Grief.
Last month grief hit me with a one-two punch that brought me pretty low. My beloved cat Aldo died suddenly from what appeared to be either a seizure, poisoning or both. He was not a young cat, but was a vigorous, playful 14 years old and showed no signs of illness or infirmity. It happened without warning one evening, and within minutes he was prone on the ground, foaming at the mouth and in great distress. I rushed him to the emergency vet clinic in Deerfield, MA, but he died on the way. I was devastated; Aldo had lived with me for 12 of his 14 years, and was in many ways a soulmate, a cat who was affectionate, expressive and always seeming to want to communicate and connect with me and I with him. He loved belly rubs and would run to greet me when I came home from work, dog-like behaviors for which I called him a “cog.” He refused to drink water out of a bowl, rather made a game of getting me to turn on the bathroom faucet a trickle for him. I was never really sure whether he was actually thirsty or just liked the attention. He slept with me every night, snuggled up and purring, and woke me most mornings by either biting at my pillowcase or gently batting my shoulder.
I drove home from the vet clinic that night in shock, unable to cry but drained and bereft. Over the following days the tears came as I encountered reminders of him around the house: tufts of cat hair, his food bowls, the enormity and silence of his absence. Friends offered comfort, checked up on me, shared stories of their own beloved and lost animals. I felt myself going through some of the stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, guilt. Feeling like I had failed him somehow. Wondering if I had made a mistake by driving him to the vet, if he would still be alive if I had not moved him. Not able to comprehend how he could be alive one minute and gone the next.
Aldo
“Grief is grief,” said one friend, and she’s right. The loss of someone one loves, animal or human, hollows out the soul, changes the world into an unfamiliar place without that person or animal in it. Time is apparently the only antidote, that and remembering and telling stories. Little by little I am getting used to the house without Aldo in it, and remembering his loving, joyful spirit with smiles as well as tears. I plan to buy a rosa rugosa bush and plant it over the spot where I will bury his ashes, something beautiful and resilient to remind me of him.
So bathing suits. We have them, lots of them! In my opinion, bathing suits are one of the most insanely overpriced items of clothing to buy new, but if you come to Experienced Goods for your swimming apparel, you will pay only $3 per suit, or $1 for an unmatched top or bottom. What?!? That’s less than an ice cream cone, and think how much better the suit will look on you. Heck, buy two or three, buy swim shorts, buy a bikini. We also have shorts and tank tops and sundresses and straw hats. Let the summer begin!