No Big Deal

by Chief New Leaf, ©2023

(Nov. 15, 2023) — My cat died. No big deal; cats die all the time. They live for about ten years or so, then they die.

I had a cat that lived 16 years. This one lasted 12.

As I said, no big deal. I looked for photos of her and I don’t believe I ever took one. I mean, when I moved in to the place where I’m living, it was on the roof. I’d put bird food on the back porch railing, and it would be on the roof looking, so I put some cat food on the railing, she jumped down, ate it and then climbed a tree back onto the roof.

It took a week before she let me pet her and then another when I invited her in. As I said, that was 12 years ago. Just a stray that I adopted. No big deal.

But here’s the thing: when she didn’t get up this morning, well, I put a towel down on the bottom of the bed where she slept at night and petted her. I knew she was dying. Just a stray; no big deal.

As I said, I laid her on the bed and petted her until she died, six hours later.

But here’s the thing. When I petted her, she purred. A loud purr, and then as the clock was ticking, the purr got quieter. Three hours later, she was still purring nonstop. Four hours later she was purring but quieter. For the last two hours I couldn’t hear a purr but felt it because I was holding her head in my hand, thumb rubbing her neck.

Now here’s the thing: when the purring stopped, she died.

As I said, she was just a stray cat that I took in but, gee whiz, don’t I feel bad not loving her half as much as she loved me.

Chief New Leaf