When I was young, my family had a cat. His name was 'Snoopy' and he was an
outdoor cat. Even when my sister & had grown up and moved out, indeed, got
cats of our own, Snoopy was still at my parents place, and you could see his
outine through the 'privacy' glass doors, waiting patiently to be fed on the
patio.

The inevitable day came when Snoopy was no longer, and although its been 10
or 15 years now since I last saw him sitting outside on the patio waiting to
be fed through the glass,  the place doens't seem the same without him.
Indeed, when I'm over there, its almost like I catch a glimpse of his
patient grey form sitting there, waiting for his supper, but it dissappears
when I look directly. My sister & father have said the same thing.

And then Jet turned up, an abandoned black exotic short hair. A friendly and
affectionate soul who adopted my parents whether they wished to be adopted
or not. And then, there was another cat-shaped form out of the patio waiting
to be fed, and things seemed, well, *complete* at my parent's place again.

But my mother is not fond of cats, and is terrified that she'll trip over
one as its 'winding around her legs' and she'll break a hip (or worse). Jet
was going to go to the RSPCA.

But I had faith that RPCA would come through somehow, and it did. Tish's
father agreed to be Jet's new slave, and Tish & Dave took Jet back to their
place last Sunday.

And even though I knew Jet was going to a much better life than my parents
could possibly offer him, I felt sad that I never did get a chance to give
him a proper 'goodbye', he was just sort of bundled up and taken (which is
the only pratical way to handle a cat in a cage, but it didn't leave any
room for a teary farewell)

But today I did get to say a proper 'goodbye', with Tish & Dave
understanding my need to do kiss and cuddle a a face I'd grown accustomed to
for the very last time.

Goodbye Jet. I'm glad you are going to a home where you'll be loved and
pampered and kept in a way that befits your pedigree. But I'm going to miss
you too, and especially that black shadow behind the privacy glass at my
parents place. May the ghost of Snoopy look after you too.

Vicky xxx