Music mix eases grief of loss

I lost a four-legged friend last Monday.

My cat Loki had to be put down. He was really sick. He and his two sisters — Athena and Isis — came to my wife and me nearly a year ago. He was such a cool cat. And he was the runt, which made him more endearing.

I created an iPod mix of some of my favorite metal songs to help with the sadness. As I was compiling the likes of Opeth, Pantera, Slayer and Lamb of God, I had to smile when the band Kittie came up.

Although Kittie, the all-female Ozzfest breakthrough band, has given a lot of metalhead vets out there a run for their money, it was because of the band's name that its tunes made it into my mix.

As I continued to find other songs, my mind began wandering, and I thought about Kittie and Ozzfest. Then, of course, the festival's namesake Ozzy Osbourne popped into my mind. It was then that I realized Loki and I had a few Ozzman connections.

From day one when those little black Himalayan-mix kittens came into our home, I called Loki "my little man." Being the runt, he was always last to the food dish, to the litter boxes, to the toys. And it took him a while to get up the courage to jump onto the bed. And it took him a few false starts, deep breaths and a couple of psych-up sessions before he would jump off.

As it happened, Osbourne, during a sentimental moment, recorded a song called "My Little Man" for his son Jack. The tune appears on the album "Ozzmosis." So, of course I had to put it into the mix.

As I looked over the "Ozzmosis" track list, I remembered it contained another tune, "See You on the Other Side." And that, obviously, made it to the mix as well.

I know I may be a little too music-oriented, but music has amazing power. And this week it has made the sadness in our home a little happier.

Of course, Ozzy has always made me happy . . . well, except when he was involved in the dreadful MTV reality show "The Osbournes."

I was introduced to Ozzy's band Black Sabbath while in elementary school. A friend's older brother had the album "Paranoid," and we'd listen to it all the time. Whenever I was down, unhappy or angry at the world, that album would perk me up.

Now, after all these years, music's "Prince of Darkness" is still helping me deal with bumps in the road of life.

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E-mail: scott@desnews.com