Ah, better smoke another cigarette...

In the grand scheme of things, what is the life of one Bear? What is the life of one Panther?

The life of every being affects the lives of others.

Don't ask me why I say what I say. - I say it because I say it.

"Kansas City linebacker Jovan Belcher shot and killed his 22-year-old girlfriend, Kasandra Perkins, then drove to the Chiefs' facilities at Arrowhead Stadium and took his own life in front of some team employees, including coach Romeo Crennel and general manager Scott Pioli, on Saturday morning."
-- Yahoo News.
That's a sad story, it's some really fucked up shit, man. ...Really.

But what made me sadder was reading that a friend of a friend's cat died.  We lost our orange buddy Buddy not that long ago. I'm relatively certain that he's still hanging around here, we just can't see him with the naked eyes because he's a Spirit, and physical human eyes don't see that dimension very well, but we feel him.  And the other four-leggeds know.  They interact with him, which is descernable to human eyes.

I've burried too many cats and dogs over the years, and a few humans.  When someone we know leaves this realm, we miss them.  When someone we love leaves this realm, we miss them more.
I still miss my Doberman/Husky friend Toke, and she's been gone from this realm since 1985. She liked jumping out of the truck at red lights and running thru traffic, so I guess it was inevitable, in retrospect.  I figure she moved on to another level, but that doesn't make me miss her any less, or any of the other friends who have gone away.

We, that is to say all beings, affect everyone and everything around us, whether we realize it or not.
Just watch the old Christmas movie 'It's A Wonderful Life' (Don't watch the Turnerized version, watch it in black & white, it has more impact.)

The Buddha would probably have some bit of wisdom to say right now, probably something very zen.  But I don't.  ...So I'll just say something tao.  Later.