“Dear old world’, she murmured, ‘you are very lovely, and I am glad to be alive in you.”
L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables
Lucy Maud Montgomery qualified for her teacher’s license at Prince Wales College in 1895 and spent a few years teaching at Bideford, located in the western portion of Prince Edward Island. Her grandfather’s death in 1898 brought her back to work at the post office with her grandmother. Ever resourceful, Maud arranged for one of her cousins to take over her responsibilities so that she could embrace the heady excitement of being the editor and proof-reader of the Halifax Echo’s society page. There was a joyful anticipation within her life until, in 1902, news that her cousin and grandmother had a falling-out caused her to return to Cavendish.
This was the time that Anne of Green Gables came into being. By 1904, Maud had submitted the manuscript to four publishers, all of whom rejected it out of hand. Into a hatbox it went for safekeeping, while she continued writing articles and poetry. The time had not yet come.
In Memory of Maggie
By Lucy Maud Montgomery
A pussy-cat who was the household pet for seventeen years.
Naught but a little cat, you say;
Yet we remember her,
A creature loving, loyal, kind,
With merry, mellow purr;
The faithful friend of many years,
Shall we not give her meed of tears?
Sleek-suited in her velvet coat,
White-breasted and bright-eyed,
Feeling when she was praised and stroked
A very human pride;
A quiet nook was sure to please
Where she might take her cushioned ease.
Little gray friend, we shall not feel
Ashamed to grieve for you;
Many we know of human-kind
Are not so fond and true;
Dear puss, in all the years to be
We’ll keep your memory loyally.
On The Road Book Club 
Beautiful flowers, beautiful poem, beautiful post. Yes, we miss our loyal and faithful little animal friends. They bring us such joy.
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They do…I was thinking of Beauty and Samwise.
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Wonderful. In Memory of Maggie is a magical tribute about friendship.
I like how you fittingly set these pieces to flowers, it renders the reader to a sense of grace in the first instance. Thank you for this.
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You comments are a great source of encouragement. Thank you for your presence and thoughts, which add so much to the dialogue.
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Wonderful little tribute… I’m still grieving for my cat who died last year… in fact, wrote my first blog about her!
I like your description, life-long learner… I’m a fellow traveller too!
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Lucy Maud Montgomery had a way of bringing out the emotional without being frivolous with heartfelt sorrow. I still grieve for my Siamese cat, Samwise (I was in the middle if reading LOTR when she came into my life). and that was decades ago.
You are indeed a fellow traveler – a kindred spirit, as Anne of Green Gables would say. And that makes all of the difference….
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Your artwork is gorgeous!! Nice post too 🙂
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Thank you so much, Susan! Your presence and comments are most welcome and appreciated. I am becoming braver with my photography.
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