I wanted to write a disclosure on this post first because it involves death. I'm a Scorpio stellium, a Santa Muerte devotee and I have been working with Hecate for the past few years (honroing my mixed heritage). Death doesn't scare me, but I know that isn't the case for everyone.
I live at one corner of a crossroads and a house opposite mine has a lot of cats (8+) which are majority outdoor cats. When we moved in 9 months ago, another neighbor warned us about voles in the area, so I've never minded the cats around. They don't really socialize with us much, roam the entire neighborhood, and they've never been aggressive or bothersome in any way, so I've viewed having these cats as a perk.
Two days ago, I saw an orange cat sitting in a little patch of sunshine in my backyard when I let my dog out to potty. He was a good boy and just sniffed the cat, and it didn't react negatively towards my dog. It let me get close, remove some spiderwebs I saw in its whiskers, and I gave it some little pets before taking my dog back in. By the next potty break, the kitty was in the same spot napping, but definitely breathing. Being a mom, I do stare at sleeping people and animals to make sure I see breathing. Third potty break and the kitty was gone from that spot.
Yesterday, my husband called me from the backyard and said that he found the kitty, who had passed right outside my bedroom window, asking what we should do. I walked over to our neighbor, who confirmed it was one of their (geriatric) babies.
I lost my kitty Guinness about 2 years ago, who meowed loudly, crawled into my lap (even though he was my husband's cat first) and passed in my arms. While I understand the mundane before magical, I feel like of all places that this kitty could have chosen to lay to rest, I feel honored that my yard made them feel safe enough and I was able to give a little loving to it before it passed. I also knew who to contact after it's passing so it could be reunited with family and treated with dignity in death.
I've felt called to being a death doula for a long time, but I'm a crier (that water sign life). I'm not going to look too deeply into this situation specifically, but I am going to process this grief by thinking that I've helped two cats cross the rainbow bridge peacefully with Hecate in my corner.