My best friend Buddy crossed Rainbow Bridge tonight. He was all heart, but his heart could hold on no longer. When he came to me the vet thought he was about 6 years old, which would make him 22 tonight. He has been faithfully sitting on my lap while I work at my computer or watch television, happy with nothing more than to enjoy my company for all these years. And I have so enjoyed every minute of this faithful and sweet soul, and he is on my lap yet tonight as I cherish the last bit of warmth and love his small frame can provide, as I write down my memories of him. He was my last living link to the good times in Parker, before my world imploded around me. My life will seem awfully empty without his eager company.
Many years ago he was hanging around my house in Parker, but I didn’t realize it. A neighbor who had moved had abandoned a cat that looked just like him named Miles and we were taking care of him outdoors as he didn’t want to come in. Finally someone bought the house next door and we explained to them that the house came with a cat. Fortunately they were amenable, and Miles moved back into his former house. We stopped putting food out and life went back to normal. However one day Miles was in our driveway yelling at me for some reason, so I asked the neighbor what was up with Miles. She said, it’s not Miles, we think it is his twin brother, and he was some kind of upset that we weren’t feeding him anymore. So I got him some food and went back to feeding a stray black cat.
Our neighborhood south of Parker was pretty wild for a suburban housing development. We had plenty of fox and coyotes and even an occasional mountain lion roaming the forests. Once I heard a commotion and I went out to see what was going on and it was Buddy faced off in the driveway with a fox. The fox was clearly looking for a meal but it was obvious to him that Buddy had no intention of becoming a meal. The fox dared not take another step or I’m sure Buddy would have turned him into mincemeat! During one commotion I couldn’t find him, so I just turned Klondike my 90 pound Samoyed loose and the commotion stopped and never came back 🙂
Later on he got into a couple of cat fights and had to get patched up at the doctor, which was when the doc figured he was about six. Not too long after that one day, he came to our ground level sliding basement window, so I opened the side that didn’t have a screen and he sauntered on in. He strolled around the basement for a while locating the kitty box and the food and water… After a while he went back out, but it wasn’t long before he was spending his nights safely indoors on the basement couch. He still enjoyed going outside during the days to sun himself on our deck, but I guess he knew nighttime was not a good time to be out.
Finally our time in Parker came to an end and we packed up and moved to Woodland Park. Once we got Buddy moved here, he didn’t like going outside anymore and fully retired from his outdoor escapades. From then on he was content to spend every minute of his time sitting on our laps at the computer or watching TV with us. Turns out some old Sonny and Cher episodes were his favorite. He would never fail to return from his wandering through the house when he heard the familiar jingle of those old episodes playing.
So for six solid years I have had Buddy on my lap by day and on my chest by night. He is at peace now, it looks like he is curled up asleep. I’m sure he is basking in the warmth of Heaven tonight, eagerly awaiting my arrival. I will miss him terribly until that day.
