Remembering   Cypress....and now Charlie

He came from a church, Chapel Hill United Methodist. I found the kids holding this very young dark grey cat with white feet and chest.

Charlie was the tinest, but soon he became the #1 in the cat  pecking order.

In August 2004  Charlie was 14 yrs. old and needed teeth extracted. He reacted to the anesthesia and went blind. It never bothered him a bit. He didn't run into anything after the first day. He'd sit in the front window and look out as though he could see. 

May 22, 2007 Charlie was allowed to go to his eternal rest after his kidney's started to fail. He was 17 years old and will be sorely missed.

 
 

Always way up in a tree as a kitten

 

Cat Heaven

The way to Cat Heaven is a field of sweet grass where crickets and butterflies play.
A cat may be late in getting to Heaven.........
there's just so much fun on the way!

But an angel will wait at the yellow front door, wait till a kitty comes home.
And when he arrives, he'll give her a kiss, and some milk in a bowl of her own.

There are trees in Cat Heaven, trees made just for cats, trees growing so green and so high. But no one gets stuck in a tree anymore -- if a cat wants down he will fly!

And OH! all the toys, kitty toys everywhere, thousands and thousands go by.
There are buttons and baubles and small cotton mice -- there is catnip afloat in the sky!

There are angels, of course, with soft angel laps where kitties can purr loud and strong.
The angels will rub kitties' noses and ears, and sing them a Cat Heaven song.

And when cats are hungry, there's God's kitchen counter all covered with white kitty dishes, full of tuna and salmon and mounds
of sardines, and wonderful little pink fishes.

The cats in Cat Heaven are so loved and spoiled God lets them all lie on his bed.
He walks in His garden with a good black book, and a kitty asleep on his head!

Then when a cat needs, he may just simply ponder and watch the blue world deep and wide....
He will watch the old house where he once lived and wandered, and the people who loved him inside.

All cats love heaven, they know the way there, they know where the angel cats fly.
They'll run past the stars and the moon and the sun... to curl up with God in the sky
 

"Man can no longer live for himself alone. We must realize that all life is valuable and that we are united to all life. From this knowledge comes our spiritual relationship with the universe."~ Albert Schweitzer

Cypress was the most easy going cat we ever owned. She would patiently stand at the evening feeding hour while Charlie cat smacked her little head as the bowls were prepared.  Rarely did she indicate she had enough.

For 3 days Charlie kept looking for her after her death.

 

Boxes, bags, shelves... all hers if you weren't quick enough. 

 
"I gave an order to the cat 
and the cat gave it to its tail"~ Chinese Proverb

One of the last 'stake your spot' pictures I have of her. Once the plants went up she returned to her favorite spots.
 
 

Early in her life here she was determined she did indeed fit here. 

There was no convincing her otherwise. Of course when she hit 18 lbs. she really hung over! 

 
"The really great thing about cats is their endless variety. One can pick a cat to fit almost any kind of decor, color scheme, income, personality, mood.  But under the fur, whatever color it may be, there still lies, essentially unchanged, one of the worlds free souls."~ Eric Gurney

Didn't I say she was patient?  She loved the camera and thought I was nuts to put a stuffed mouse there.  She ignored my house birds, though the only time I saw her move quickly was for an outside parakeet that I rescued before she could. ;-) 

"Nobody who is not prepared to spoil cats will get from them the reward they are able to give to those who do spoil them."~ Compton Mackenzie.
 

And reward she did indeed give to us... we shall miss her. 

 
Angel of Mercy Animal Critical Care sent this in a card for us:
 

....Grieve not,
     nor speak of me with tears,
but laugh and talk of me
      as if I were beside you...
I loved you so ---
     'twas Heaven here with you.
                ~Isla Paschal Richardson