Red was a really special cat. He was a stray that had been hanging around the neighborhood for years. In fact, he use to try to intimidate our other cats, so we would chase him off when we saw him. A couple of years ago he seemed to have mellowed a bit; or perhaps life was just becoming more difficult. He stopped intimidating the others, so we gradually began feeding him. He was hungry and we can't say no to an animal in need. Eventually, we were even able to pet him while he ate, other than that you couldn't get close to him. Last September we went to Greece for ten days, when we returned, somehow Red seemed a little less anxious around us. He was more receptive to being petted and when we opened the door and invited him in, not only did he accept, he didn't leave. That was all it took, Red moved in and immediately became part of the family. He wasn't well, but we wanted to give him the best possible life until his time came. He stayed inside most of the time or on the patio. Red was in some ways more like a dog than a cat, he would follow me around the house, just like a dog. Many evenings he would greet us at the door when we came home. There is really no way to adequately describe the way he would look at me (and Bharata), but to say it was with eyes filled with unconditional love. When you would lean over to kiss him, he would tip his forehead and bring it up to your face, just waiting to have a kiss bestowed upon him. He gradually became thinner and thinner, weaker and weaker, it was painful to watch but he didn't appear to be in pain. He started staying closer and closer to Bharata in his final days and died sleeping with him. We will truly miss you Red, but you're in a better place now. Remember that we both love you. I'm sorry I wasn't there with you, but you'll always live in my heart, I carry you with me. Goodbye sweet pea, mommy loves you!
No comments:
Post a Comment