This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 30th, 2008 at 9:52 am and is filed under Stories of cat lovers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Chester was the greatest cat I have ever owned. Chester was a stray kitten that wandered up one day and decided we were worthy of his company. Chester was a reddish cat – unusual in color.
The name just popped into my head…I guess because I associate the name “Chester” with red hair. When Chester found me, I lived on my grandparents’ 32 acre farm. Chester immediately stole my heart. Chester was a much laid back kind of cat and we formed an immediate deep bond.
Chester loved everyone and everyone loved Chester. We developed a way to communicate that most people found a little silly, but it worked for us. When Chester wasn’t in at feeding time, or if I just wanted to see him (he liked to wander the farm), I would just go outside and meow. Yes I would meow. Here he would come…. running like a maniac.
We’d spend our time together, then his adventurous nature would take hold and off he’d go. Chester was extremely proud of his ability to bring me mice as a gift. He would saunter up with his prize and politely lay it at my feet. Although I appreciated his thoughtfulness, I did not so appreciate his gifts.
This was our way for several years. One day I just knew it would be the last time I would see him again. Not sure how I knew. I just did. I meowed for him to come eat, and as usual he comes bounding out of the woods. Chester eats, we “chat” a little. Then Chester looks at me and meows in just a little different tone than usual. I knew in my heart he was saying goodbye.
So I “meowed” my goodbye and watched him slowly walk away towards his woods. He gets to the edge of the woods, turns and looks and me and off he went. I never saw Chester again. I knew I wouldn’t but my heart wasn’t ready to say goodbye. For days I would go out and meow for him, but nothing. I eventually decided it was time for me to give up.
Unfortunately I never got a picture of Chester to share with others… he’s only in my heart. I have had several cats that I called my own since Chester, but have never enjoyed as rich a bond as we had. That’s the thing about cats. They choose you. And if they decide something better has come along. Off they go. I would hope wherever Chester went he was safe, happy and content.