Goodbye, beloved friend
Dear Dream,
It broke our hearts to see you go, but it hurts us more to see you suffer in silence as your body failed you. You’re off to a better place now.
You were the most gracious cat, affable and unassuming. You were unconditional with your affections for us, and that really set you apart. I still clearly remember the day I found you, scratching the closed door of the downstairs room in the rented apartment we used to live in. What a sweet surprise to find a cat, a ball of friendly fur that greeted me when I opened the door. I remember you were unafraid and gentle and I think we hit it off pretty well. That was 7 years ago. Looking back, I am glad I had asked to be responsible for you from your last owner. Those early months in Petain Rd were perfect for us to get to know each other, short though they may be.
You amazed me. I was on the move and I had to bring you over to the family to assume care for you. But you adapted really well to new surroundings in the family home. And I was really proud of you when you stood up for yourself, in dignified response to the constant playful antics of the little ones at home. You were a good big brother, just as I had expected you to be. Over the years, you were always an important agenda on my visits to the family home, I looked forward to those visits and now I will miss you.
I may have failed in being your caregiver but I hope I had given you an opportunity to be in a really good home in your last years. Space to run free, an abundance of your favourite chicken meals, feline companions and, most importantly, daily love and affection from the family in Pasir Ris. I’ll cherish the persistent memory of you basking in the sun at the front door, ‘regally’ and nonchalantly (notwithstanding the bicycles who were trying to avoid running over you :) Oh and another. Waiting at the dinner table, eyes pleading for chicken bits from our dinner plates. And yet another, of loud meows from the kitchen in the early hours of the morning, perhaps a friendly, daily reminder for us to wake up and seize the day ahead. Those are good memories of you, of a family.
Although I genuinely believe you had lived the full life you deserve in your last years but, belated as it may be, I must truly apologise for not being around enough, dear friend.
As we buried you yesterday at dusk, your still form extremely thin and old, we knew it was the timely release we had wished for you, from the broken body and unrelenting pain. Yet, it is always too soon for someone dear to go away and never to return. Dear friend, you were a part of our lives, a part of this family and we thank you for the many years together.
Dream, gone on 13 July 2009, truly missed and never forgotten…
(image courtesy of ideologi22)
End-note: Dream’s actual age is uncertain although from the vet’s advice, he was probably beyond 16-17 years old, a long time in equivalent cat years to be alive. He lived life fully, ate a fair bit of chicken-in-a can in his days, strode along calmly (never runs!) and had a regular spot under a tree for his naps. Recently, he was not responding to medication any more and his internal organs eventually began to fail. He left us naturally and a dignified end to a wonderful little life.
