The birdhouse in your soul

Dear friend's cat died yesterday. As ever the words don't work. She is devastated. He was such an excellent boy.

I got myself an ice-cream out of the freezer, and was eating it when the doorbell rang. Some guy was there with a parcel for us, Amazon or something (clearly not Evri or it would have been bunged over the back wall.) We chatted for a moment and he told me it was his mum's birthday. I wished her a happy birthday.

'Oh she's in a better place now,' he said, 'she passed last year. But you know, she was 88 and they say you've learned all your lessons by the age of 82. So she's definitely in a better place. She passed all the tests.'
He carried on talking about her for a while, and I listened, seeing no grief in him except perhaps this sign, the need to talk about her. Eventually I asked him if he would like an ice cream in celebration of her day. He declined but blessed me for offering it, and away he went.

And somehow this old song is in my head remembering him and the death of beautiful Malkin and this gents' memory of his mother, all these things.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4Y7IxGG9zg&list=RDS4Y7IxGG9zg&start_radio=1

Desperation

He doesn't really know what he wants for his birthday, so I've no clue.

But I'm calling it now, balloon animal cufflinks are not the answer.
https://babette-wasserman.com/product/balloon-dog-cufflinks-yellow-gold/