I have 1800+ photos of Sylvester. I'm far from knowing all of them by heart, but I do have my favorites that I tend to recall, whether in daily prayer or otherwise.
What's interesting is that sometimes a photo that's not one of my favorites will pop into my head, and I will connect it with some kind of ongoing issue in my life. It's almost as if the image is an oracle card with deeper meanings that can provide guidance for what I'm dealing with.
One is of Sylvester curled up next to my hip while we're both laying on the back room futon. It's a position he was seldom in, preferring instead to laying on top of me, but more important is the time period in which this photo was taken - when my roommate Justin was around and I'd finally discovered Sylvester had developed a phobia of him, leading to a household strife I didn't know how to resolve. Of course, Sylvester was by far more important to me, but I felt that it was wrong to kick Justin out for nothing he did or had control over. The situation resolved only because Justin gave up and moved out, to make things easier on me.
This image has been coming to me as I've been contending with another "damned if I do, damned if I don't" situation in which correcting Mai Mai's behavior to reduce the friction I experience (ex: cleaning up after her) makes me feel like I risk damaging/blocking the attachment bond between us. The image reminds me that I'm the head of household, responsible for making sure that both our needs get met, and that I have the ability to do so, even if exercising that ability will cause someone to feel temporary discomfort.
Another one is of Sylvester on his hind legs like a meerkat, peering through the window at his backyard territory. I had allowed him to be indoor/outdoor until I read about the hazards that urban environments posed to pets. And even though I knew him to be smart and alpha-capable, I also knew that I would not forgive myself if something did on the off chance happen to him. This tension - of me needing him to be indoors and he needing to be outdoors - did eventually resolve in the form of a backyard enclosure I commissioned, with netting that simultaneously kept him in (for the most part) and kept mosquitoes out.
This image has been coming to me as I've wondered about my romantic life, which feels more and more theoretical as time goes on. It used to be the type of terrain I needed to engage on, and now it feels separate from the life I lead. My emotional security is resourced internally and combined with a distributed network of platonic connections, and any romantic connection would have to be able to integrated into that landscape, which seems improbable, but only because I haven't met "the right person". In other words, just because I haven't encountered the indoor/outdoor solution yet, doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
My inner skeptic does wonder if Sylvester is sending me guidance from beyond, or if my brain is simply working overtime to make meaning of the images I have left of him. I do know that I have always resolved these spiritual dilemmas by choosing to believe whatever is most beautiful. So - oracle it is.