Kyra lives

About this time two years ago our cat Kyra died very suddenly. It was a roller coaster of fear, relief, then shock and grief.

We buried her in the front garden, her favorite sunny spot.

The next summer I decided to make that bed an edible garden. I planted a large Yucca filamentosa over Kyra's grave, thinking it would have structure and winter interest, a four-season, living memorial. (My idea of an edible plant may not be everybody's idea of an edible plant...but yucca flowers are edible and it's my garden so I decide.)


That yucca had languished in the back bed for years. Plenty of sun but missing something. Apparently that something was Kyra. When the yucca's roots met up with Kyra they must have screamed with joy because that plant has grown like nothing else in my garden. It more than doubled in size in its first season. Whenever we see it we think of Kyra. And please note the symbol at the top right of the stone marker. Neither Michael nor I scratched it there, and yet...


We won't live in this house forever, and I've thought I'll be sad to leave her grave behind. But now I know we can take the yucca with us. The yucca that is part Kyra because surely she has fed its roots and stems and leaves as much as she fed our hearts.