He came into our lives in the form of a fluffy little kitten fourteen years ago (you know how adorable kittens are). Tuffy was mostly Siamese but with something else thrown in. Maybe white longhaired tabby. He quickly turned into an attractive sharp, vibrant, loving and intelligent young cat, having all sorts of adventures as a recently sterilized prowler across the street in the forest. He loved it there. I watched him many times as he surveyed the road for traffic. He simply never crossed that road when there was traffic.
A very smart cat!
I remember the times his ears were injured in fights with something I do not know what,
A raccoon perhaps? But what I remember most was how he loved being loved by us. He loved getting close and staying warm during the cold evenings of winter. He was the lap cat who would rub his chin on my scruffy beard. Even in his last days he would make the effort to climb the sofa, pulling himself up really, to be on my chest and loving the attention, loving me back! Crooked worn ears and all. I will always remember him being there, near. He knew that he was a member of our tribe and that we were his family.
We took him in full time five years ago. He was getting slow and having trouble jumping. No more adventures in the forest, strolls through the garden, sunning on the fence. He was now a permanent house cat and he didn?t quite like it. Eventually he grew used to a roof over his head 24-7 but he always looked outside with a grin that only another cat could appreciate.
Without any warning signs, he became very ill early last night. He wouldnt move. Slobbering lightly with a semi-dazed look. He didnt appear to be in any sharp pain. Maybe he was, but he just seemed off, away. He would move a little and respond to a slight amount of petting and rubbing under the chin. He managed to purr but it was loud, suggesting fluids in his old lungs. Even though he had been through several serious problems these last few years, he always bounced back solid. Last night I knew this was too deep. That we would be parting very soon. I spent the evening with him. Thinking in the odd manner, you know the type, when something only as final and eternal as death is near. Eventually I said goodbye to my old friend of many years and went to bed.
I got up this morning and couldnt find the old man. I woke my wife and together we searched the house. We found him alive in the second bathroom. He had deteriorated but was still able to look up at us. He meowed in a very quiet and strange way, scared. I needed to get to work. How stoic of me, yeah right!..Work! Always a company man. My wife called soon after I arrived at my desk and said she needed to take him to the vet and have him put down. She would then bring him home. I agreed.
An hour later the phone rang??"hello", yes, she had him in her arms. Quiet, still as the morning air, cold but peaceful, "We will give him a place under the small maple tree where he loved to sun himself on those cold spring mornings". "Yes" I said, "that would be fine".
A wonderful little spirit passed through town this morning that made me happy to be a part of life.
I salute my old friend, Tuffy the cat.
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[This message has been edited by Yeager (edited 08-30-2000).]
