The Cat That Went to Homecoming (10 page)

I was ashamed of myself for always ignoring
her. I felt like I should apologize, but I knew we had an audience
behind us.

“I’m confident that one day we’ll meet under
better circumstances, but for today, I’d like to share my cat with
you.”

I picked up Hershey and asked her if he could
sit on her lap. When she nodded her head, I placed him in her lap.
He immediately nuzzled the crook of her elbow, and she sobbed. Her
sudden intake of air startled Hershey. He looked up at her and
cocked his head to the side. Then he climbed up her chest to stand
and rubbed his cheek against her tear stained cheek. She hugged him
and cried even harder.

I put my hand on her shoulder, “Janet, are
you okay?” I asked.

“Yes,” she said when she was able to speak,
“Yes, I’m okay. He’s a doll, Ellen! He must be the reason you run
off my bus every day.”

I looked over at Jane and the nurse, and I
could see that they realized Janet and I were acquainted with each
other. Jane was smiling at me. Her eyes were soft and filled with
pride. She winked at me, and then whispered to the nurse. They
quietly left the room.

I smiled at Janet and agreed, “Yep, he greets
me at the door every day, and welcomes me home.”

Hershey settled back into her lap, eyes
closed and purring deeply as she pet him. Hershey had a way of
cooing while he purred if something pleased him, usually it was
being brushed or talked to. Since Janet was softly telling him what
a handsome boy he was, he cooed for her. He made my heart melt.

“Janet, you are obviously a cat lover. Do you
have a cat?” I asked.

She looked at me and the pain in her eyes was
unbearable. Tears squeezed out and ran down her cheeks. She wasn’t
able to speak; she was so filled with a sorrow that I could feel
penetrating the air in the room. I squatted at her feet and gave
her a moment, rubbing Hershey’s chin and letting my eyes tell him
how proud I was of him.

“There’s a picture on the nightstand next to
the bed,” Janet said.

She motioned with her head towards the
nightstand, and I stood to retrieve the picture.

It was a framed picture of a black cat with a
white chest. I knew from all my recent research into cats that this
was what was known as a tuxedo cat. He was wearing a baby blue
collar in the picture, and my heart sank when I saw that same
collar draped around a small white box behind the frame.
Oh,
dear Lord, no!
I swallowed down the sudden lump of grief and
picked up the frame.

“He was beautiful,” I said. “What was his
name?”

Janet turned the wheel chair around so she
could face me. Hershey stuck to her like glue; I don’t think he
even opened his eyes when they turned. She wheeled around the foot
of the bed to get closer to me. She stopped in front of me and
looked down at Hershey, curled up on his back with his tummy
exposed.

“His name was Abraham. I named him after
Abraham Lincoln,” she said, and motioned for me to sit on the bed.
“I miss him terribly,” she choked out in between sobs.

“Janet, I am so sorry. You should know that
I, of all people, can understand the way you are feeling. If you
need to talk about it, I am here for you, but if you don’t want to,
that’s okay, too.”

Janet began to share her story with me. Every
once in a while I would see Jane peek her head in through the door
to check on us, but we were engaged in deep conversation so she let
us be.

Janet was not elderly, she was only
fifty-three years old, but she lived alone and her only child lived
out of state. She had no family here in Wisconsin. Her left hip had
deteriorated so badly from osteoarthritis that, for quality of life
purposes, it needed to be replaced. She was aware that her living
situation made it so that she would need to be placed in a rehab
facility for a short time while she recovered. The only issue was
that she had no one to care for her cat, Abraham.

Janet had diligently researched and found an
animal foster home to care for Abraham while she was in recovery.
She would never have undergone the surgery if she hadn’t found the
foster home. She said she’d rather live with the pain than lose
Abraham.

She had her surgery after school let out for
the summer. Her plan was to spend the summer in recovery so she
could be back at work in the fall. She had every intention of
working hard to recover quickly. The average recovery period for
hip replacements was four to six weeks. Janet was into her recovery
for two weeks when she had her only visitor.

She cried for several minutes before she
could go on. I was crying too, for I thought I knew what she was
going to tell me and it hurt.

“The woman that was fostering Abe for me came
in one day and told me that he was very ill. His appetite had
declined dramatically after he was placed with her, which she
attributed to him missing me. She became alarmed when he showed
signs of dehydration so she had taken him to an emergency vet for
IV fluids. I had given her permission to take any measures
necessary for Abe while he was in her care, but I did not expect
that anything fatal would occur.”

“She told me that I had to speak to the vet,
and that I would need to make a decision. She did not want to make
it for me.”

The vet told Janet that Abraham was suffering
and he felt the most humane course of action was euthanization. She
was shocked because Abraham had not seemed ill at all prior to her
surgery.

It turned out that Abraham had oral squamous
cell carcinoma, cancer in the mouth. The tumor had grown to a point
where Abraham could not eat. He would not live long, surgery was
not an option at this late stage in the disease, and putting him to
sleep was the most humane thing she could do.

Janet was beside herself. She could not even
say good-bye to her beloved friend! She had given permission to
proceed and made arrangements for his cremation, all while sitting
in a wheel chair in a rehab facility. She could not hold him one
last time, she could not give him a goodnight kiss, and she could
not tell him how much she loved him.

“Abe was fourteen years old,” she told me.
“He gave me fourteen joyous years, and I thank God every day for
giving him to me. I just wish I could have held him one last
time.”

I was crying till my nose ran! I got up and
got us both some tissue. Then I hugged Janet and squatted again at
her feet.

“I am so sorry for your loss, Janet. I don’t
know if there is anything I can do to make you feel better. I think
Abraham knew you loved him more than life itself. I think it’s
entirely possible that things happened the way they did to spare
you from having your last memory of Abraham being of him
suffering.”

Hershey was still purring and just as content
as could be, lying across Janet’s lap. She obviously knew all the
spots cats liked to be touched because she had Hershey
hypnotized.

Jane peeked in again, and I could sense that
it was time to wind things up. She entered the room, “Janet, it
seems you and my young protégé have bonded. Would you like me to
bring her and Hershey back again some time to visit?”

“Please,” Janet said. “I would truly
appreciate the visit.”

I reached into my bag and pulled out a treat.
I gently placed the treat in Janet’s open hand and asked her if she
would please give Hershey a treat for being such a good boy.

“Ellen, he is a good boy. You really have a
special gift here.” She held her open palm out and Hershey’s eyes
popped open. He nuzzled her hand until he found the treat and took
it gently from her. He ate it, and then he looked up at her with
half-closed eyes. This eye gesture was a way cats used to
communicate affection, and since Janet herself was a cat
enthusiast, she knew this.

“You’re welcome sweetheart, and please come
see me again,” she said to Hershey.

I hated to end our time together, but I knew
it was necessary. I had to pry Hershey from her lap; he was not
ready to leave.

“I’m sorry that your time together has to end
for today, but they will be back. Would you like a picture of
Hershey?” Jane asked and Janet smiled.

I reached into my bag to dig out a trading
card for Janet.

“Oh, isn’t this darling!” she cried when I
gave it to her. “Ellen, thank you so much for coming to see me. I
feel so much better now that I got to talk to someone who would
understand.” I just smiled and nodded at her, then gave her a
hug.

“I will make arrangements to get here again
soon, Janet,” I said before we left.

Only after we put our seat belts on in the
car did Jane speak. She turned to me and said, “Wow. I am
impressed, Ellen. You have an old soul, you are mature beyond your
years, and you are an asset to this type of work.”

I was flattered, and proud of myself. “Jane,
I was so nervous about today. I didn’t think I would know what to
do or what to say, but something kicked in and took over.”

“That is compassion, Ellen. Your heart took
over when you saw the suffering of another person, and you gave her
your time and attention. That is truly remarkable.”

“Thank you, but…” I fumbled for something
else to say because I was not good at accepting praise. In fact, it
wasn’t often that I was praised by someone other than my mom.
“Hershey deserves most of the credit. He was amazing.”

“Accept compliments graciously, Ellen. I want
you to remember this. When a person compliments you, it’s because
you deserve it and you should not shift the attention to someone or
something else. There is nothing wrong with modesty, but accept a
compliment for what it is.”

Chapter
Fourteen

Mom was at work when Jane dropped me off at
home and I was a little bummed out. I was so excited and needed to
talk to someone to share my great experience with, but who?

Once his harness was removed, Hershey found a
patch of sun across the living room floor to rest in. He deserved
his time alone, my hard working little Hershey Kiss!

I felt restless and really wanted some
company, so I picked up my phone and scanned through my very small
contact list to Brandon’s number. It was odd that Brandon was the
one person that came to mind at that moment, but I felt I had more
of a connection with him than anyone else.

“Ellen,” Brandon said when he answered the
phone. At first I was surprised he knew it was me, but then I
realized that when a number you have listed in your contacts calls
you, the name reads across the screen. That should tell you how
many phone calls I’ve received in my life!

“Hey, Brandon, are you busy?” I asked.

“No, in fact I’m bored to death right now. I
have the car though; do you want to do something?” he asked.

“Sure!” I said. “What do you have in
mind?”

“We could go to the mall. I’ll call Cindy and
see if she’s free, and then come pick you guys up.”

“That sounds great.” I said, doing a mental
tally of how much money I had to spend. “I’ll see you in a little
while then.”

Another first for me, shopping at the mall
with friends! If this wasn’t the best summer of my life, then I
couldn’t imagine what would be. I normally wouldn’t bother my mom
while she was at work, but I thought maybe it would be best to let
her know what I was doing in case I wasn’t back before she came
home. I wasn’t very skilled at texting because the only time I ever
texted was when I had to relay something to Mom while she was at
work. It took several minutes for me to punch out ‘going to the
mall with Cindy, see you sometime later today. I’ll have my phone
with me. Love you.’ I omitted Brandon’s name so she wouldn’t be
confused. After all, I had not told her about my new friends
yet.

I did a quick look in the mirror. The facial
abrasion was healing well, but the scabbed over parts looked
disgusting. It was shrinking in size, kind of puckered around the
edges, but it didn’t hurt. I brushed my hair and decided to throw
it in a ponytail. I looked my outfit over, and felt that if it was
good enough to visit Janet in, then it was good enough to shop in.
I was wearing khaki pants and a white shirt. I would have to get
out the lint roller to get Hershey hairs off my clothes, and then I
would be all set to go.

I lifted my mattress and pulled thirty
dollars out from my stash of savings. I had nothing in particular
that I was saving for, and spending thirty wouldn’t hurt anything
even if I was, so I just tucked the money into my front pocket and
let the mattress down.

My doorbell rang. It was Cindy. “Hey, Brandon
called and he’s on his way to pick us up. I told him I’d wait here
with you. Is that okay?” she asked.

“Yes, yes, please come in.” I closed the door
behind her and led her into the living room where Hershey was
reclining in his patch of sun.

“Aw, he’s so darn cute,” Cindy said as she
squatted to pet Hershey.

“He had a big day today, we did our first
visitation.”

I told her about the morning, leaving out who
the woman was that we visited and focused only on how well we
handled it because Janet deserved her privacy.

“I was so nervous at first, but once we
entered the room, something else took over. Jane said it was
compassion that took over. I don’t know how to explain it, but all
my anxiety washed away the moment we walked through the door.”

“That is exactly what happens to me when I’m
at the food pantry. So many people our age would not get it, they
are too wrapped up in themselves.” Cindy said. “Ellen, what you are
doing is very cool. I think it’s amazing that people can use their
pets to bring joy to others. You have worked pretty hard at this
and it shows. I’m proud of you.”

That made me smile; she said she was proud of
me. Cindy really was a good friend. The regret I should have felt
for turning away from her was never able to surface because she
harbored no ill feelings towards me. Our friendship seemed to pick
up where it left off.