In Memoriam

September 15, 2016

In Memoriam

A week ago, our dear cat Hector was hit by a car.

We weren't home when it happened but our neighbours found him and kindly took care of his body until they could return him to us. They had laid him in a packing box that had the word 'fragile' written in black marker and placed flowers on his head. We cried together and they told me how Hector was the only cat their dog ever took a liking to.

Hector was that sort of a cat. The one everyone had a soft spot for. He was beautiful and always moved with such ease and grace. He was patient and long suffering with Leo and Phoebe's affections and I looked forward to the day the children would be old enough to have him sleep on their beds because that is what childhoods are made of. It breaks my heart to think that Leo's memories of Hector may fade in the years to come and I'm sorry for the loss of this special friendship.

I'm thankful that on his last Sunday night Hector and I had a cuddle. Children finally asleep and kitchen cleaned, I lay in bed exhausted when suddenly, Hector jumped up onto the bed and began nuzzling into my chest. We dozed until Joel came to take him downstairs for the night.

With the busyness of the end of term we've been kept occupied but I think we've all felt the weight of Hector's passing. It's been strange to hear the miner birds outside and not an accompanying miaow. I keep expecting to hear his soft paws on the back deck, or find him asleep on one of the outside chairs.

We buried him at the bottom of our garden, near his favourite place to play. His body is safe and sheltered, or 'cosy' as Leo would say.

Because every good and perfect gift is from above I have a great hope that we will see Hector again because he has a place in our love, and as Wendell Berry writes,

Whatever happens,
those who have learned
to love one another
have made their way
to the lasting world
and will not leave,
whatever happens.

– Sabbaths 1998:1