Alone

I'm a reasonably social person. I enjoy the company of family and friends. My bank statements certainly suggest an almost reckless attitude towards towards discretionary spending on social activities. I think I have made a significant contribution to the health of the hospitality industry during the global financial crisis, as companions and I have travelled, eaten, seen movies and shows, and consumed many, many beverages. My work life is extremely busy, and an endless series of interactions. My home life by contrast is peaceful and quiet. That's the way I like it and I don't need or desire constant human company on a day in day out basis, but just the same I do not like living alone. And I have rarely been alone, always there has been at least one feline flatmate. But alone I am now. On Thursday Millie was gently released from life. She had been unwell and the time had come to put her needs before my own.

"I love cats because I love my home and after a while they become its visible soul."

- Jean Cocteau

It is strange to come home with no one to greet or be greeted by. Millie was described as 'middle aged lady looking for a lap to sleep on' when her photo called out to me from the paper one Saturday morning. I'd recently lost the last of a family of four cats. I'd managed a month or two on my own, but my home lacked its visible soul. It was just a house. And so Millie came. How she came to be abandoned to the SPCA I don't know, but someone's loss was my gain. For just over five years she has been a sweet, gentle and loving companion. 

Since each of us is blessed with only one life, why not live it with a cat?

- Robert Stearns