THE PURRING MACHINE

POST #80

I received an email this week from one of my housesit clients, to let me know that one of their pets, Bob, had finally come to the end of his life. Bob is "the purring machine" pictured on this blog.

Now, I have come to know quite a few cats on my housesit adventures, and they are all unique in their own special way. Bob's claim to fame from at least my point of view was the strength of his purring ability. All you had to do was just look at him from across the room and he'd start up his "motor" and slowly walk his way toward you, purring all the way. He walked slowly because he was old, and probably had a bit of arthritis in his legs. If I happened to be lying on the couch at the time (which I was doing a lot of those days) I would have to lean over and pick him up, as his jumping ability was pretty well non existent by then. Once I had him placed on my lap, he would turn on the drooling pump and soon there was a wet patch located somewhere on me.

I had the opportunity to meet Bob and the other cast of critters, Sadie, Blueberry, and Mr. Bumples, during my housesit in March/April 2012 in Grand Forks. As is well known by now to the few readers of this blog, that is when and where I had my tumble down the mountain. During this period, as mentioned above, I spent many, many hours at a time lying on the couch in the living room, and Bob was always there, nestled in on my lap or chest, purring and drooling up a storm. He became quite a comfort to me during that period, and I am thankful for his presence. It was easy to focus on him, and forget about my leg.

Apparently he died back in early June, however since I don't really do the Facebook thing anymore, I only found out this week. I am sure the owners were sad about his death, but they had him as a pet for a very long time, so they would have had plenty of purr/drool sessions with him I'm sure. And, they still have the other three to keep them company for now.

In the final analysis, all we can really take with us in the end is our memories. One of mine will be of the cat named Bob from Grand Forks, aka " the purring machine." My life is a little bit richer because of the time I got to spend with him.

Happy Trails (Bob)

Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer

PS: Today marks two years of being registered with the Housecarers service, and it's been a fun journey so far.