This page was created in loving memory of our beloved Grouik, who crossed the Rainbow Bridge on July 21, 2012.
You will find a video of him, a tribute by his human, picture of his little paradise, Grouik’s resting place, links to posts that featured him and 409 pictures selected among probably easily more than a thousand pictures featuring him.
We miss you Grouik. We will always love you and keep you in our hearts and memories.
Some words from Grouik’s human
Grouik adopted me in late 1998.
I moved to Paris a year before from my hometown in Center East France, leaving my childhood behind, as well as many griefs for some stupid reasons I don’t even remember. It was a clear cut. I had a grand old time in Paris, lots of things to do for a young man with a good job, money, lots of time and energy, and no liability.
Grouik was the first cat who chose to come and live with me (I had another cat when I was a kid, for a short time before she disappeared). In a way, he partly made me a grown up, since from this time on I had to be responsible for the welfare of another being. Grouik taught me everything that had to be known about cats: my role, and his role.
His departure leaves a saddening, even irritating emptiness. Cats are very much creatures of routine, much more so than us vertical bipedes. In all the places we’ve lived in (7 homes in 4 countries for the last 14 years), Grouik reclaimed places in space and time. In his last home, I knew he was in a specific place when he wasn’t out: on my chair in the kitchen waiting for his share of our dinner, behind said chair gluttonously gobbling up canned food or raw meat, on the kitchen window sill asking us to let him in whenever we were cooking (he knew when we were unwrapping meat, almost all the time, wherever he happened to be), on the sofa top for a nap, on the armrest so he could watch over his dominion on rainy days; at bedtime, he would hop on the bed to claim his daily, exclusive petting, with me all for himself; in the morning, he inevitably was at the front door waiting for one of us to open this door to the outside world. Indeed this routine is gone now, leaving an unbearable absence; something dramatically changed in our (my wife and I) universe, besides “big holes in our hearts” as Sparkle puts it.
More than any other, the vivid picture I keep in mind is him watching outside, from the window or from the deck… Always looking outside. That’s where Grouik’s life was, that was his grand purpose. I couldn’t keep him locked inside when he could just go out and live.
All I’m left with are countless memories, and, because I’m a human, rationalizations. I have to believe Grouik had a wonderful life, despite all these places we moved in, and all the highs and lows in my life.
Cats are way beyond the cutest incarnation of freedom. Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness, as the founders of this great nation put it, words of sheer genius — cat genius. It’s not just an old, familiar sentence. Cats have been around us humans for the longest time (9,000+ years according to some), yet they never had to make such a Declaration: that’s just what cats are. What I learned with Grouik is we humans have a role in the “Life” part: food, shelter, and occasional visits to the vet; the cat perfectly takes care of the rest, and we should not interfere. Wild and feral cats have unlimited freedom and short lives, as opposed to appartment cats who are very healthy but are short on freedom. I tried to find the middle ground with Grouik, and I have to believe I did pretty good. I cared immensely about Grouik, and it was reciprocal, but I think of this as a consequence of taking good care and good understanding, almost guess work at times.
It’s customary to say when a human passes away that “he/she is in a better place now”: that may very well be true, for we [collectively] humans have a sickening tendency to allow a small minority of power hungry people to make other people’s lives miserable under fallacious and misguided pretenses. But this human design flaw is irrelevant to cats: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, each cat his own way. I just don’t know if he’s in a better place now, and it doesn’t really matter: think of the Life part, as in “alive”.
Rationalizations, as I said — I did good in regards to the “Life” part, so yes, I really think Grouik had a wonderful, wonderful life. In the end, this is all what matters.
Grouik will not come home anymore
In memory of Grouik… let’s enjoy life
Grouik the hunter and his umpteenth chipmunk + Captioning Milou
How three cats (that’s us!) moved from France to America with their humans — Part 1
How three cats (that’s us!) moved from France to America with their humans — Part 2
Picture gallery
(click on any of the pictures below to see a bigger size and open the slideshow)
What a beautiful tribute and wonderful paradise place for Grouik! This is very moving! Hope that his soul can feel your huge love for him!
We hope too. Thank you.
This is a beautiful and touching tribute to Grouik. We didn’t know him but he was obviously greatly loved. We send our belated purrs of condolence and (((hugs))) from our mum.
Thank you so very much.
Je comprends votre peine .C’est un arrachement cruel que de devoir les laisser partir pour le paradis . Je voudrais tellement croire à une autre vie où nous les retrouverions . mais c’est vrai que savoir qu’ils ont eu une belle vie à nos côtés est d’un grand réconfort. Repose en paix Grouik!
Merci énormément. Nous espérons également qu’il est bien là où il est maintenant.
c’est certain, Grouik a eu une merveilleuse vie, il a eu un foyer formidable, rempli d’amour et de jeux. La vidéo est très belle et touchante.
Laurence
Merci beaucoup Laurence.
A very beautiful Tribute.
Anatole France wrote “Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.’
It sounds as if Grouik awakened your soul and you loved him.
Thank you Zac. Beautiful quote indeed.
Wow, I’m completely torn up now after reading this wonderful post, and seeing all of these fabulous photographs. What a treasure this page is! The video is fabulous! The shots of Grouik in the bag are priceless! And was that a snake they were playing with?!:-) Precious, precious! I am so happy to have had this chance to see these beautiful images of your unforgettable Grouik.
Thank you so very much for your nice comments.
It wasn’t a snake, it was a slowworm (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anguis_fragilis). I think they are not found in the U.S.
Hugs and purrs
What a fabulous tribute. Love all the photos and the video is special. When we think of Grouik now, we see sign up saying ‘gone hunting’ =^..^=
Hahaha! I love that, thanks
I’m sure he would have loved that too. Thank you.
When I started reading this post and Grouik human’s tribute firstly, I couldn’t continue reading it as my eyes were full with tears…..
How beautiful, wonderful tribute this is! I saw and felt a lots of love for Grouik…. I’m pretty sure that Grouik had a wonderful life being with his humans…
I can tell it from the video and these 409 pictures. His face expression is telling it to us.
I had met Grouik on Texas’s blog only a few weeks ago before he acrossed OTRB. It is not for a long time but I now feel that I’m so lucky and happy to have been able to meet this irresistibly cute and charming cat, Grouik. He has a special charm that the other cats rarely have. something special.
The little paradise where Grouik now rests is fabulous! I can see him enjoying his favorite green place where it’s full of love. Yes, Grouik matches green nature very well…that’s because he loved outside world.
He must appreciate his humans to open the front door for him for his explorer.
Finally, thanks so much for sharing this wonderful and touching post with us.
We miss him, too and we will love him and keep him in our hearts, too.
Thank you very very much. I’m sure Grouik is honored from where he is now.
So, tell us, Grouik…
Tell Carine and Hervé and
Milou and Texas and Kitshka
and Jixie Juny and all the rest of us:
How does one describe heaven?
http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/196642_405921049454931_1198767802_n.jpg
Your suggestion seems pretty close to what I’d like it to be :-)
Carine (Texas’ human)
Beautiful tribute!
Well done, and beautiful photo’s!
Thank you so much.
Purrs
What a wonderful tribute, thanks for sharing it *leaky eyes*
Thank you. Thanks for having taken the time to see it.
Purrs
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Beautiful tribute. I know it is best to keep them in but some kitties just need to explore to be happy. Grouik had a happy life, he was loved. You can see it in the pictures and the video, that video. Sigh.
Thank you.
(((purrs)))
What a beautiful tribute! I am still wiping my eyes.
Peace and love*
Hi/Bonsoir de Toulouse! I lost 2 cats, Tom and Kitty… you did touch my heart, I miss them! I’m a catlover, à la vie, à la mort… I’ll visit your awesome blog as often as possible. Amitiés félines et bonne chance! Mélanie
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Mom loved reading about Grouik and seeing all the photos. He’s what she would call your “heart” cat. There are some cats who take hold of a human’s heart and never let ago even after passing away. Does Grouik have a particular meaning? We are so sorry for your loss, even though that actually happened a year ago. Purrs and hugs, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo and an extra big hug from Mom.
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Does Grouik have a particular meaning?
“Grouik grouik” is kind of the equivalent of “oink oink” in English (pig squeal onomatopoeia). As to why I used this name, that’s a long story…
oh! that is our favorite song! We loved being able to enjoy your friend Grouik. He looks like a lot of fun and we’re sorry you miss him so. Bisous and headbonks.
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What a lovely memorial page to Grouik…handsome & obviously very intelligent. He sounds alot like my Mingflower who helped me to ‘grow up’ also over the 18 1/2 years we spent togather….
I absolutely adore Grouik’s memorial garden with his urn……teary eyed…thank you for sharing your beautiful boy with us.
Sincerely, Sherri-Ellen & Nylablue
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What a beautiful tribute to your be loved Grouik and what a beautiful place to rest. We have to shed a tear now, it brings back so much memories. Pawkisses for comfort to you all :)
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