...farewell Robbie

Robbie died today...
I knew it was time...
he had become so thin...

yesterday... he came to me...
wanting to eat... again....
just 15 minutes after he had been fed...
his pattern of escalated eating ...
that had set in the last few days...

I picked him up and held him...
he was light as a feather...
all skin & bones...
so shaky when he walked around...

as I held him...
he looked up at me...
his tired eyes said, "how much longer ?"
as I wiped away the gooey discharge...

so as I went to bed last night...
I knew that today would be the day...

I was up in the middle of the night...
and there was no Robbie camped outside my door...
when I got up, just after 7, he wasn't there...
so I went looking for him...

he was laying on his nest...
head hanging down off the side...

I thought he was gone...
he felt stiff... but still warm...
I picked him up and he responded...
with a tiny "mew"... sort of coughed and moved...

I quickly got dressed...
wrapped him in his favorite fleece throw...
kissed him on the forehead...
and we left for the vet's...

leaving behind Rob's confused & upset "family"...
unnaturally quiet... and withdrawn...
knowing that "something" was wrong...

during the trip, made longer by the morning commuters...
I told him what a good boy he always had been...
and how soon he would be free of pain...
and be young and strong again...
to prowl the backyard he loved....
making his "rounds" of the neighborhood...
and sleeping in the sun...

as we got closer... I began to feel the peace I always feel...
when a suffering, longtime companion and friend...
"crosses over"... their pain finished...

so it didn't surprise me when the vet, Dr Kind Eyes...
told me, "he's gone..." as soon as he saw him...
looking closer at Rob, at rest in the blanket in my arms...
I could see it now, too...

the life he had shared with me ...
and the rest of his friends, both feline and human...
was now over...
and I'm sure when he saw Jesus...
he meowed and went to Him to be petted...

rest well, my friend...
your quiet, gentle sweetness will be missed by us all...