Jeepers!!!!!

Peanut butter and chocolate ice cream couldn't help you Barbara???? Wow! No worries, we still love you and think your writing is awesome! Love Westminster Hall...maybe because my knees are killing me in this weather!

Shadow(s)

He came to own me in that special way that all cats possess humans. The agreement was a simple one; in exchange for food, water and a roof over his head when the weather kept him from prowling his kingdom or hunting for prey, he gave me countless purrs and a warm lap. "Shadow", I would remind him gently, "watch the claws." He would look up at me with those mesmerizing hazel eyes and the claws which had been kneading my leg would retract on command. Unlike the other cats that roamed about my property, Shadow was revered by my indoor cats like a God. He would appear at the back door when the night settled into blackness, demanding to be let into the house. The warmth of my home could have convinced him to make himself comfortable, but he simply sauntered toward the front door that led into the garage; my indoor cats watching him silently pass by. Never a hiss; never a fight. My cats knew who ruled the outdoors and he knew who ruled inside. My garage was his home.

It wasn't uncommon for Shadow to go astray, but I never truly understood what I meant to him until the evening he came back, crying at the back door like usual. It was only when I had him indoors did I realize he had been injured by a vehicle or another animal, I will never know which. His back leg and hip had been fractured beyond repair and decay had begun to set in. Yet this miraculous cat managed to make his way back to the place he called home. He purred in my arms as I held him and cried for I knew what lay ahead.

Those mesmerizing hazel eyes looked at me as if to say, "It's alright, mom. Let me go." I held him gently in my arms, whispering my love to him as he closed his eyes forever and felt no more pain. He was, and will always be, my Shadow.