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LE T T E R
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T H E
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Eighteen years ago, having just moved to Australia as newly weds, my husband and I added to our family… we bought a kitten. The pet store told us that she was part Persian, we always laughed that the only Persian part was her big fluffy tail. She was a funny little thing. As a kitten, she would snuggle up under one of our necks to go to sleep. For most of her life, she climbed anything and everything. We’d find her perched on top of open doors, including the glass shower door. She’d climb the curtains and sit on the rod. And in one house she even liked to sit on top of the range hood over the stove! She loved small spaces too. We’d often find her sound asleep in the tiniest of boxes or the little rubbish bin under our desk. Sometimes we’d come home from work to find that she had crawled into a kitchen cupboard while we’d had it open and then spent the entire day there. One time we even found her on the bottom shelf of our fridge! Luckily we saw her and didn’t shut the door! We moved around Queensland a lot those first ten or twelve years, and she made all the trips with us. We never had any trouble with her adjusting, She just always seemed to know that if we were there, it was home. 6
She never was a big fan of children. She’d make herself scarce whenever our friends with kids would visit. But when our two were born, it was different. She adored them. Especially our daughter. She treated the cat like one of her treasured stuffed animals. Often, when she was upset, I’d find her curled up in bed, cuddling the cat. Other times, I’d come into the room to find the cat lovingly tucked into the doll’s bed or I’d find them off on some grand adventure with the cat in the doll’s pram. Eighteen years is a good innings for a cat. She aged well. The vet would always marvel at how healthy she was. Sure, she had slowed down, but don’t we all, eventually? She was deaf as a door nail and she spent most of her day sleeping, never climbing anymore. We knew her time was coming. We weren’t sure exactly when it would happen so we said tentative goodbyes on Saturday night. Incredibly, she made it through all of Sunday … a special day for our daughter who had chosen to be baptised. We said goodbye again Sunday night, sure this time that she wouldn’t be with us in the morning. She wasn’t. She had taken her last breath peacefully in the night as we slept. Losing a pet isn’t easy. Especially one that has been with the family for so long. But, death and grief are a part of life and walking this journey with our children is important. The next time we have to walk it together, it may not be a pet. Reading through the stories in this edition reminded me that eventually, we will