I had a realization just the other day, while on the treadmill at the gym. It was seven years ago this month that I started “Livin’ La Vida Sarcoid”. Well … I should be a bit clearer. It was seven years ago this month I started back at the gym … the first time around. At that time I was lookin’ down the double barrel of my 45th birthday. A momentous occasion, maybe. But something inside of me, it could have been all the fat, self loathing, or the depression, told me it was time to get my glutes to the gym.

I was never the athletic type. Even during my childhood. I was a soft spoken emo-boy at heart. A budding artist even at a young age. Though I must admit, I did start liking the routine of exercise, and the results. I had set a goal, another process, ’till then, I had never know about. My goal? To be under 200 lbs by January 20th, 2002 … my 45th birthday.

One day we say “good-bye” and the next we say “hello!” And so it goes. Today is another anniversary. It’s the one year anniversary we brought home two new additions to our household.

During the time we were preparing ourselves for Mr Mason to head off to ‘the big bunny hop in the sky,’ Chris & I also talked about the possibility of getting another cat. Not that we could ever replace the ‘furry potato’ … but we knew we wanted the joy of raising a new ‘kid.’ We had also talked about how we’d know when it was ‘the right time.’ Or how much time was ‘appropriate’ before getting another cat. I said when the opportunity presented itself … we’d know.

On the very night we put Mr Mason down, Chris was ‘researching’ on PetFinder.com and found a brother and sister duo named ‘Will & Grace.’ They fit all of our prerequisites, they had to be Manx, because of how loving a breed they are, and there had to be a male in the group. Originally we thought we’d only get one cat. But I also thought that my cat Angel was also getting older & if she ‘went’ it would be nice for the second cat to still have a companion. It’s funny … we both decided it would be nice to get two cats. But had thought the thought separately. When we saw the Will & Grace … we both looked at each other and said … “you know … I was thinking about getting two.” Right then we knew we had to go look at them.

This is an Anniversary day. But not one I might be inclined to celebrate. No party hats, no music, no icing on a cake. It’s just one year later.

I only knew him a short time. No more than a few years. But this furry little beast burrowed his way into my heart. I was sad to say good-bye. Mason, as my partner Chris named him some seventeen years ago, was a big orange boy cat. A Manx to be precise. Chris brought him home one day from a local Seattle animal shelter.

The breed in and of itself is a miracle of, or actually a mutation of, genetics. The very things that give the cats their unique and cherished characteristics are an aberration in other breeds.