Tabby

When I was in the fourth grade my Grandfather died.

He owned several cats on his property and my father knowing that

I loved cats had the neighbors catch one of the kittens that was wild

living in his yard. It was a long haired calico and white beautiful cat

that I tamed all by myself. I named her Tabby and she was the

smartest animal I have ever seen. I taught her how to sit beg

and to talk in cat speak meaning she would meow after anything .

I said to her without interrupting me just as if she where listening

and responding to what I was saying. I had Tabby for 6 years

she slept on my chest every night and was very loyal to me.

She wouldn’t make friends with anyone else in the family.

She knew when I was sad and would meow when I cried nuzzling

me to get me to stop. When I turned 15 years old and finished the

9th grade something happened that would change my life forever…

I became pregnant and was forced out of my home by my own father.

I took the cat and I married my boyfriend and moved to the country.

My dear Tabby was getting acquainted with her new home while we

were there the first week and she was coming and going as she pleased.

Then one night I came out of the shower and saw her in the yard,

she was coming back into the house through an open window.

She saw me and for some unknown reason ran back into the woods.

I never understood why she did that and I never saw Tabby again.

I looked for her all over the neighborhood and asked everyone and

no one saw her anywhere.

There were a lot of dogs there and I feared one of them got her.

A year and a half later I left my teen-age husband and went

back to school. It took me years to get over my pet.

I had dreams about her for years dreams so real I would cry when

I woke up because they were just that…a dream.

Dreams about her coming back home and running in the

yard and just being there.

For at least 15 years I had dreampt about her.

That was a long time ago. One of the final dreams about her was a

dream that depicted her in old age.

And that told me that maybe she had been around and had lived to

around the age of 22. I could only hope that is true.

I grieved that cat for most of my adult life and blamed myself for her

premature departure from my life.

I could still hear her meow and feel the silkiness of her coat.

I miss her dearly more than anyone else I have lost in my life which is

probably a bad thing to say but in all honesty it is true.

I loved my Tabby and I have cried a mountain of tears for her.

I now have another cat that I had had for 2 years.

The first one that I have kept since Tabby and she is carving a

place in my heart.

I am in tears now because this has taken me back again.

But I would like to tell anyone with a valued pet

especially if they are a young person…

please take the best care of your pet that you possibly can.

Be responsible and watch over them especially if you have to move.

Make sure you don’t risk your pet running away or getting

hurt by anything. Consider your self lucky if you have lost a pet

due to old age or terminal illness. Because I can tell you from my

experience that doubts are more cruel than the worst of truths.

Not knowing what happened to my beloved Tabby….

Liz C.

New York

 

Tabby