So Long Old Friend

He drifted into the neighborhood sometime in the early 90's. We fed him as did our neighbors Mr. Fount & Miss Betty. Eventually it became obvious that the big red cat was not leaving. The question became who "owns" him now? And the vet bills sure to follow. Since we had cats my hope was it would be our neighbors to take in the happy wanderer.

Alas, while working outside one morning Fount asked me if I had seen Chester? I didn't know a Chester. Who's Chester I asked him? And with that the big red cat had a name and a home...

We lost Fount a couple of years ago. I truly miss that man. He was more than my neighbor. Much more. Last week we lost his big red cat Chester. After Fount passed away and Miss Betty went to live near her son in Orlando we "inherited" Chester. We were his new caregivers. A couple of months ago Chester suffered a wound. We did the vet thing and kept him on our screened porch. Pumped the antibiotics into him and did our best to make the old boy comfortable. Last week the vet said we had done all we could do.

So, we say goodbye to a cat. A big red cat. That which was a visible reminder of a time past has now past as well. So long old friend. Like your previous caregivers, you will be missed.

FWIW, Chester and Mr. Fount are buddies again. That's all I'll say about that...