Johnny

Sometime the memories come on me suddenly.

The glimpse of a tabby-colored ear or mackerel stripes and the memories rush in on me and for a moment I am transported back in time.

Johnny has been gone for several years now. He had a long, full life and although I shed tears when he left us, I knew he had had a good life. He was a simple, uncomplicated cat defined by affection, not intellect or a complex personality. I did not share a deep spiritual bond with him as I do with some of our cats.

But Johnny was special.

I thought of him today for the first time in weeks. His essence came upon me and my mind was filled by our scrawny, stripe-y boy. Big ears, big eyes and big feet--and a heart full of loving trust.

He was a gift out of time, sent to us in days of darkness and loss. A little, kitten-shaped ray of sunshine that brought back light and laughter and love into our house after Kisa's death left it cold and empty.

It had been years since I had raised a kitten. I don't know if Denny ever had. And it turned out that a kitten was just what we needed at that point in our lives. A simple, trusting kitten unaffected by his abandonment, open to the world, having no doubt that he would be provided for by the people who had brought him to his new home.

As I said, that unfearful love was a balm to our souls.

Johnny didn't need to be deep or complicated to win our hearts. He just needed to be himself.

Johnny's Memorial Page