Godboy's loss has spurred me to do something that was too painful to write about because I would get all emotional and to try and talk about it would be like ripping the scab off of an old wound. So, this is going to be therapeutic for me because the time has come to tell the story of Bennie...bear with me because it's a tad long, 100 percent true and proof that God always has a plan.
About five weeks after 9/11/01, our VP decided that we needed a "moral boost" as it looked like the bridge contract that we had with the USPS for the project of a mixed mail flat sorter wasn't going to be renewed due to the costs of cleaning the facilities that had been contaminated with those anthrax letters. As fortune would have it, I was actually on site that day and the VP of our division bought brisket that Friday and we all brought a covered dish. My wife made a green bean casserole as my contribution and when I went to put the dish in the car (so I didn't forget it) I hear this tiny meowing coming from the big industrial compactors. I almost ignored it...but I went to the sound of the meowing and found this tiny black and white kitten under this huge contraption. He looked up at me as if to say "You won! You can take me home with you now!"He could fit in the palm of my hand and couldn't have been more than seven weeks old. Someone just dumped him off because we were in the industrial part of Arlington, Texas....no houses, no apartments. It was Friday and I knew that I couldn't leave the little guy. I picked him up and he just went to purring and crawled right on my right shoulder and nestled there.
I decided that I could put him in the warehouse in one of the big boxes until it was time to head home.....I just had to sneak him in. I got about three steps through the door when Dennis Beatty (our VP) stone cold busted me. He said "Where did you find that?" I told him and that I was going to find a place in the warehouse until I was done for the day...God bless that man, he was one of a kind. He said "Take the rest of the afternoon off and have it checked out at PetSmart or PetCo, you travel a lot for us and I know you have other pets at home". How did he know that? Because he knew his people and we were not just a number to him. I thanked him and told him that I had a few loose ends to tie up but that I was appreciative. I walk back through where the ladies were cleaning up after the lunch and they just fussed over this little black and white kitten until I asked "Do any of you want to take it home????" Eh, they weren't eager and I wasn't looking forward to telling Sandy that I was bringing a stray home. I called her and she was adamant about me dropping it off at a "No Kill" shelter and that we already had a dog and an elderly cat and that it might bring home a disease.....normally I would do what she asked just to avoid a hassle but I stood my ground and told her that if I had to put the kitten in the garage until I found him a home that this was how it was going to be.
Sooooo, I left work when I got done with what I had to do...... with that little kitten resting on my right shoulder and I stopped at a PetSmart on the way home to have him checked out. The folks there were so awesome. They brushed him, checked him out and didn't charge me a dime. He went right back on my right shoulder, purring the whole way and went I got home? I told him he better pour on the charm because I didn't know how this was all going to play out. I worried for nothing.....Sandy, Josh and Chelsea met us at the door, took the kitten from me and that was it. Bennie (named by my daughter) would cuddle with Josh or Chelsea when they were having a fitful night.....he would lay next to them and purr until they went to sleep. He was an "angel cat". It was Sandy that Bennie eventually had the biggest connection with. Bennie would sleep on top of Sandy's head with his little paw on top of her forehead. He could detect when Sandy was having a high blood pressure period and he would be all around her and purring trying to calm her down. Our older feline, Cat Ballou and Bennie were inseparable. He was an angel cat for sure. He would just pop up on our laps and just purr......he loved us all. When me and Sandy divorced and very amicably (still best friends to this day) she tried to give me furniture and anything I wanted.....I took nothing but I did chide her by saying "I just want Bennie to come with me" teasingly because after all? I rescued him and I was told not to bring him home.....Sandy, thinking I was even slightly serious said "Oh no, Bennie would be lost without me". I said "Silly girl, I would never think of taking him away from you". Every time I would come over, I would call for Bennie and no matter where he was, he would come running to see me. Last year at 17 he got diabetes and when it became clear that his quality of life was bad, he was put down. It devastated me to see how bad he had gotten. When the word came that he was gone? I wept......I couldn't help myself. I told Sandy that I was going to write his story and put it on Facebook but every time I started? The tears would start and I just wasn't ready.....I didn't know if anyone would really understand as to what an impact that little cat had on my family and had I not taken the time to find out where that "meowing" was coming from that day at work? We would have missed out on having an intrical part of our family.
Yeah, I miss that little cat but we were blessed to have him.....he was a little character for sure. I take solace in knowing that I will see him again on the other side.
Thanks for the story. It was really touching.
Most cat owners ive known loved their cat, but they didnt have really strong bond. Their cats would wander in and out, occasionally coming over to their owner to get a pet from them. As a kid growing up, we had a few cats over the years, and that was how it was for us too. I mourned their passing, but it wasnt crushing. It is much different with Kiki. I sobbed for an hour straight, literally. Ive never in my life cried like that, not even when my step sister died, who i grew up with.
Kiki was the runt of the litter, so she had to be bottle fed. I got her when she was very young and still drinking formula out of a bottle. I think she thought of me as if i were her mother because of that, and she was very much like a daughter to me.
She has slept next to me every night for 16 years, but tonight she isnt going to be here. Im looking at her favorite little blanket that she always sleeps on next to my head, but i dont have the heart to take it off my bed. I think ill leave it for tonight.
Good night everyone. Thanks for the posts.
