My cat Balam (Mayan for "jaguar") lived about 17 years. She lived free to come and go as she pleased in a rural area and was a great huntress and explorer. We took her camping, too, as she knew how to follow us in the woods and stay around camp as needed (very smart cat).

In her last few months, Balam mostly slept and ate little as is typical. But on the day she died, that morning she followed me down when I went to get the mail, something she never did. When I turned to look at her, she stared into my eyes as if she was desperately trying to tell me something. In my fancy, I believe she was thanking me for letting her live her life free to follow her destiny. Then she went off to lie under a favorite bush, where I found her passed away, later that day.

Perhaps in the end that is all we can do for our fellow beings on this planet. Wish them will and let them follow their own Tao.