We were in the midst of a whirlwind … or maybe more like a hurricane. Life was spinning around so fast for us animals. From the time we realized Rob was sick it seems things just became very unsettled and worrisome. I did not see how things could get any worse and I did not expect things to get any better. Then … the biggest change of all took place.
It started slow … just a feeling that something big was about to happen. I kept closer to Rob during this time. He slept a lot. He was gone every day … sometimes he was gone and Cynthia was home. That was different. Rob’s daughter, Lis, was around a lot during that time. Sometimes she and Rob would leave and Cynthia stayed behind. Sometimes everyone would leave. Nobody thought to tell us what was happening. Dad and I hacked into Rob’s and Cynthia’s e-mail accounts and Facebook pages. We learned that Rob was undergoing treatments to get rid of his cancer. Human medicine is so strange. I wish I could have told him to just go eat some grass until he coughed up the cancer. I had thought he was on the right track when they changed their diet … but I think the weight loss really scared them. Anyway – he chose the human path … chemotherapy and radiation. I don’t think it was a very good path, though, because he always came home tired and would sleep for hours. He ate less and I could hear Cynthia trying to encourage him to eat something. I could smell her cooking fish and chicken but I think the dogs got to eat most of it. I never really cared for human food so I did not mind. Dad really likes it, though, and was insulted that Rob and Cynthia shared with the dogs and not so much with him. I just figured it made sense because dogs lack the refined taste that is natural for cats. But my real concern was that Rob was not eating.
And is if worrying about Rob and Cyn were not enough … one day they brought a tiny, black interloper into our home. They said she was related to me – a cousin or something but I did not care who she was. She was very ill and I thought it was a terrible idea to bring in another soul for Cynthia to care for. Rob named her Black Pearl but Cyn called her Smidge because she was so small. I had to Google the name because I thought it was probably another city in Cuba! Everybody made a big fuss over her, but I did not like her at all. Her condition kept getting worse until one day she could hardly move. Cynthia prayed out loud over her and I realized then how much love she and Rob have for all of God’s creatures. I have to admit, that did soften my heart for the little thing just a bit. Rob took her away for a little while and when he brought her back, he and Cyn started feeding her separately from the rest of us. Eventually she started getting stronger and stronger but was still very tiny. Then one day they put her in the movable house and took her away. It was a long time before I saw her again.
Then it happened … Dad, Aunt Havana and Coco were taken away. We were all lounging in the bedroom one day when Rob brought in the movable cat house and took all three. I wondered as I watched them leave if perhaps Rob had found his resting place and was taking his favourites with him. My feelings were really hurt. I thought I was special to him but … he chose them and left me behind. You can only imagine my surprise and excitement when he returned a little while later! He remembered! He got to his resting place and could not rest in peace because I was not there by his side so he came back to get me. But the movable cat house was not with him and we did not go anywhere. Where did he take my family if not to his resting place? What was happening? Did he take my family to the same place he took Smidge? Why didn’t he take me as well? I was so confused. The dogs were no consolation and my acting out was not being noticed. No one seemed concerned that I was absolutely frantic inside. I could sense that it was the end of something … but I had no idea what. From my perspective it was the end of the only life I had known. It was as though the door to my past was closing and there was no future in sight.