With Heavy Heart...

...I had to say goodbye to my cat, Digby today. I gave him several nicknames over the years but 'Bubba' seemed to stick. He was a rescue, less than a year old, when he came to live with us permanently. He'd lost trust in humans but once we resocialized him we couldn't ask for a better cat. I live in a park and he became quite a fixture here among the other residents. Everybody knew Digby because he was everybody's friend. In the warm months he would make his rounds of the park and do his 'sociables', visiting anyone that was home and had an open door he could wander through. He never overstayed his welcome, so I was told, and kept his visits brief. He adored kids, even the little ones that pulled his tail, and would head anywhere he heard kids playing. One summer the neighborhood kids must have been playing with squirt guns filled with colored water. Digby came home with his white fur covered in pink and blue splotches. I wiped him off but he must have rejoined the games because he showed up more than once that day sporting pink and blue fur. He was gentle and patient with me, slept in bed next to me and once he discovered how great a lap was he became 'the lap monster'. He left me alone if I was busy but when the day was done and I sat down on the sofa to watch TV it was 'lap time' and he was a great lap warmer in winter, a wonderful companion and a very special kitty. I will miss him so much.