"Bob and Me" by Julianna Rowe

           "Bob and Me" by Julianna Rowe

Bob and I went for a walk today. Well, calling it a walk might be stretching things a bit. I carried him outside, and I carried him back in. Bob did the walking in between, and only as much as he wanted to. I guess I should mention here that Bob is slowly passing from my life and the world with liver disease.  He weights less than 7 lbs. but is hanging in there. I used to take him outside a lot and today I decided we should do it again.

Outside my apartment are bushes filled with finches. Not one or two finches. A LOT of finches. Apparently they have an entire neighborhood watch program, because the minute Bob appeared, they were on guard. Every one of them seemed to know there was a CAT in their territory. But I will add how much I love finches.  They are the sweetest little creatures.  In fact my clients save me their dogs hair after brushing and I put it out for their nests and they take it.  I can watch them carry it away from my porch. 

Back to the finches who live in the bushes outside my apartment. By the way, Bob couldn't have cared less.  He had more important things to do like eating grass then throwing up the grass. Some things apparently don't change with age. He walked around a little more and eventually found himself a nice spot in the grass. Then he lay down, nestled into it and relaxed. And I watched him. 

Bob is old now. His body doesn't work the way it once did, and lately I have been painfully aware of that. Things that used to be nothing can take a lot out of him. When we came back inside, he walked only about five feet before lying down under the chair. Our little adventure had worn him out, even though he had enjoyed it and that's what mattered.

There was something about watching my old friend lying there in the grass that made the rest of the world disappear for a little while. No work, no family problems, no politics, no surgeries, and no wondering about tomorrow. Just Bob and me.

Maybe that's one of the things animals teach us that humans have such a hard time learning. Bob wasn't worrying about how old he was. He wasn't thinking about what he could do last year that he couldn't do today and he wasn't worrying about tomorrow. He was lying in the grass enjoying life for a bit. So I sat there and let him. 

The finches remained on high alert and Bob remained completely unimpressed.

And for a little while on an ordinary afternoon outside an ordinary apartment, an old cat and his person had ourselves a pretty good day.

The Happy News Lady 💛😻