Tis a sad one this

Ok will warn you, this isn't a happy post.

For the last 8 years, 11 months and 3½ weeks I have had the lovely company of Charlie. A moggie, re homed several times before joining us, with a skittish but loving disposition.

The sort that would know exactly when to leave you be or sneak in under the covers late at night to comfort after a long bad day. Who knew when you weren't looking to snatch that last bit of cheese or cake off your plate, who when Littleun came along didn't scratch or hurt him when over excited he grabbed too hard, who followed him around waiting for him to finally sit down so she could sit in his lap. Who didn't moan or question you when you were in a bad mood, but just sat there purring with the look on her face that says "I know, its a hard life but you should try catching mice some days..." Who sadly died this morning.

The following is a poem I found that kind of sums up how I am rather feeling now. So sorry for this depressing post, and yes I know she was "just" a cat, but she was my friend and comfort too.

I've changed my ways a little, I can no longer roam with you in the evenings along the shore, except in a kind of dream, and you, if you dream a little you see me there. So leave a while the paw marks on the front door, Where I used to scratch to come in or go out, and you'd soon answer, leave on the kitchen floor the marks of my drinking pan. I cannot lie by your fire all evening On the warm stone, nor yet at the foot of your bed no, all the night through, I lie alone. But your kind thought has laid me less than 6 feet outside your window, where firelight so often plays, and where you sit to read, and, I fear, often grieving for me--every night your lamplight lies on my place. You, Man and Woman, live so long, it is hard to think of you ever dying! A little cat would get tired, living so long. I hope that when you are lying under the ground like me, your lives will appear as good and joyful as mine. No, dears, that's too much hope...you have not been as well cared for as I have been, and never knew the passionate, undivided fidelities I knew. Your minds are perhaps too active, too many sided, but to me you were true. You were never Masters, but Friends. I was your Friend. Deep love endures to the end and long past the end...If this is my end, I am not lonely. I am not afraid.I am still yours. Anonymous