Turning Loss into Gain
Everyone who knows me knows my love for animals, and all of those people also know about me and Mooge. In 2006 a four-month-old papillon/chihuahua mix was found in an alley by a dumpster by a friend. He couldn’t keep her, so I took her home until we found the owners. We were together for nearly 15 years. Then, in early December of 2020, my Mooge was diagnosed with lung cancer, and a month later she was gone. She was the love of my life, and I still struggle with it every day.
But something else I’ve been doing every day is drawing. It’s been a dream, and my biggest life goal, to publish a children’s book series about me and Mooge. And over the last couple of years, that’s grown to include her little brother Egoom, and now little sister, Muther Fluffer.
I rescued Egoom in the spring of 2021, and even though he’s definitely his own boy, Mooge is so in there. Actually, it’s probably more of a Force ghost situation, blue in form, and nudging him here and there, or coaching him on what not to do and what really not to do. Usually, it has something to do with stealing cheeseburgers. He knows things only Mooge and I shared, and when I say her name, he looks up at her picture on the wall as if saying “She’s right there, Papa.”
And then earlier this year me and Egoom (I guess collectively MeGoom) rescued Muther Fluffer from a stressful home situation. She’s an amazing cat with only 3 legs. And talk about the Force, she’s like Yoda how she creeps around using her one arm as a cane, but when she wants to kick ass she’s faster and crazier than Mooge and Egoom combined. But the best part is that before Mooge passed, she and MFer were friends. And now Egoom and her are in-MFing-separable.
So as for the books, I’m really close to feeling confident enough with my art to start in on the story, and if you’re an Instagram user you can follow the journey on @acdrawstuff and @meandmoogeegoom, or hit the link below. Like I said, I’m drawing every day, and usually it’s a little cartoon with the three of them doing something like peeing on someone they shouldn’t or trying to figure out how to get more cheeseburgers. The entire practice has been the most therapeutic activity that I’ve done since losing Mooge. It’s all about the cheeseburgers. I tried everything I could think of to deal with the grief, from talking to someone (or anyone that would listen) to leaving notes around the apartment reminding myself of the great life we had together.
Anyway, just a quick post because I felt like it was time to say some of this stuff publicly, out loud, and in color. I’m going forward and I hope you’ll go with me (and these gremlins).
AC MC EC MFC
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