Good Bye, Kathy
Dear sweetheart:
You have left this earth on this day, November 6, 2001. You were only 2 1/2 years old. The world was a much better place with you in it. From the moment you were born, you enjoyed much wonderful love. I saw you not long after you were born. Your mother had her arm around you, cuddling you and purring out her happiness. You were her first baby and what a wonderful baby! You were born right next door to where I lived in Venice, California. You were watched over by neighbor’s son. They made sure to bottle feed you when your mother could not nurse you. But, you grew up perfectly. You played and ran and chased your two brothers. Soon, I took you in along with your younger brother,
whom I called Fred.
I named you “Kathy” in honor of another sweetheart that I had the pleasure of knowing many years when I was in high school. I know now that I will cherish the memory of you both for the rest of my life. You and Fred enjoyed comfort and safety in those first beautiful months.
I could not wait to come home and play with you and watch you two play together. Often, your mother would come to visit and the whole family would form a big “love pile”.
One fun and wonderful memory of you that I will cherish, is when you would instantly climb up my legs (when I had my pants on, of course) to my shoulders. I felt honored and thrilled that you felt so close to me that you wanted to watch me shave! Another wonderful memory is of you getting on top of the refrigerator. You were so mischievous
at such an early age!
After a while, you and Fred were frequently laying together on the window sill, looking out at what little of the world you could see. In time, it became impossible for me to contain you inside, where I hoped you would wish to remain and be safe. So the day came that I let you and Fred outside. I know you felt tremendous joy at this. I just had to resign myself to the laws of nature. If you were not to live as long because of being outside, you would have a much happier life living outside. This has come to be true.
So, you and Fred went out to explore the big vast world. You explored under the building we lived in. You both quickly figured out how to climb up to the roof of our building. I laughed out loud the first time that I came home from work to be greeted by “meow” and looking around only to look up and see you on the roof! You were certainly a “monkey”. But, you stayed close to home and came in for dinner, sleep and play. You continued to enjoy the company of your mother who lived right next door along with their other cat “Zero”.
I think it was “Zero” that showed you
how to get on the roof.
I remember seeing you and “Zero” sitting on the wooden beams that extend from the roof. My neighbor correctly pointed out that you two were “The Halloween Cats” because of your orange color and his black color.
A few months later, we moved. But only to the building next door. This apartment was better suited to you and Fred jumping in and out when you wanted. At one point for a month, my friend moved in with her dog. I wasn’t sure how this would work. It turned out to be just fine. You and her little dog seemed to really like each other and seem to play together. This was good, since it was the rainy time of year and you needed to be inside most of the time.
My friend moved to a better place of her own and so too, her dog. The weather got better as the weeks past and you were again exploring the outdoors. But as the months passed, you did not come in to my apartment as much. In fact it was less and less. I found out that during the day, you would sneak over to the neighbor’s and fall asleep in the son’s room all afternoon. You really loved him. You shared the same color hair. I later found out that you would come in to their apartment to eat as well.
Sometimes I would spot you visiting your mom. Every once in a while, you would give me tremendous joy by greeting me from the rooftop. I would often see you crossing the alley to get into the neighbor’s yard. All of the neighborhood cats went there. I will never know what was in there that attracted all of you cats. Other times, when ever I walked out of my apartment and toward the street, you seem to come out of nowhere and run ahead of me. Then you would stop. Then run ahead as I walked. You would run directly under the parked cats. That scared me to no end. But, you stayed close to the curb as you followed along with me. But, I wouldn’t let you follow me past a certain point and you seemed to accept this. You would often get away from me when I would reach for you to pick you up. You were a tease! You did let me pick you up at times. It got to a point when you would not come in at all or only for just a moment. I could coax you to stay briefly by offering you canned tuna, which you enjoyed. You then let me know when you wanted tuna by running in and sitting on the toilet seat. Even after a while you stopped doing this. I saw you less and less. I would not even see you for days. I would have to ask the neighbors if they had seen you. I was just concerned that you were all right.
My neighbors and I believed you had a second home. You would occasionally stop by just to say “hello” but not come in. I would have my door open and you would meow. I would come out with a can of tuna. Sometimes you would partake of this and sometimes not. I was concerned about you, but you looked quite healthy. In fact, you managed to have grown more. It took longer, but you were almost the same size as your brother Fred. At this point, you never came in, even for tuna. Maybe it was because of the presence of a new kitty, Frank. I would be shocked at the occasional visit when you would run in and
jump up to the bathroom window sill.
There was a beautiful time, about a month ago. You came in and stayed. You snuggled right up to me, purred away and we fell asleep. Of course, by morning you were gone. It would be the last time we would snuggle together. You only came in for quick visits a couple of times after that.
My fear of you running around under the cars in the street were proved to be justified. You were hit by a car. My other neighbor woke me up at 6:30 a.m. to tell me. I found you on the parkway………You were a joy to this world. You loved being alive. We loved the fact that you were here with us. You brought joy to everyone you encountered and I know you received joy in return. Your little life was cut way too short. But, what you did not have in quantity, was made up for in quality. I brought you to the veterinarian
whenever you needed.
You enjoyed high quality food. You still got to see your mom frequently. You had other cat friends. There were fascinating places to explore around the neighborhood. I will never forget, not too long ago, when I saw you with a mouse! You certainly enjoyed fulfilling your natural instincts. I sometimes regret not letting you have those babies you started to carry. But, the world has too many cats to be cared for. But, if I could have one of those kittens now, if she looked like you, I would take her, keep her and love her the same as I did you. I have lit candles for you right now as I write this. I will light candles again on Monday. That is when all humans who have lost their pet friends practice The Candle Ceremony. I will do this too, one week after you left this world.
It will be a long time from now, but I will see you at Rainbow’s Bridge. When you get there, you may see my other cat friends, Midnight, Morris, P.D., Joe, Bean, Cookie, Gypsy, Bob, Sundance, and Kunta Kitty and others. Please say a “meow” to them from me and let them know that there will be a day when we will be reunited, in love.
Goodbye, my sweet, my Jungle Princess. My life has been made joyous now to have you in my heart.
Goodbye, my sweet
| Kathy |
| 4, Nov 2001 |
| David Schnell |