The Story of Bell

 

 

 

     TD and I are terribly sad to say that we had to say good-bye to our sweet cat Bell last week. The whole thing has been hard. We've had her for sixteen years and she came from Herkimer, New York, upstate, which is the town that my grandmother grew up in. Bell was diagnosed with a tumor in August and the vets thought the illness might have originated elsewhere. We tried to keep her going with a steroid and appetite enhancer but towards the end she just stopped eating and drinking water. On the last day she had trouble walking so we had to bring her uptown to the vet to say good-bye. She was our third cat after Katie and Rose, and honestly, taking a pet to the vet to say good-bye and going through that with the animal is my least favorite thing to do in the world. 

   We've had a cat since around 1996 and we often had two cats at a time so if one cat passed, we always had another to come home to. But with Bell we were down to one so when we came home the apartment was empty. She had been with us in the apartment almost as long as we have lived in this apartment. I am still talking to her and we are still looking for her habitually – on the bed, on the couch, on her favorite chair. We've not been able to pick up her water bowls or throw out her food and medication; I don't want to erase her presence here. 

   Besides being very pretty to look at, she was wonderful soft and cozy company, and followed us around the apartment. She would sit next to me and sometimes let me hold her paw; we'd hold hands. If we went out of town, we had someone come in and feed Bell, and we always looked forward to seeing her on our return. When we came home, she'd be a little miffed with us. There was a short period of readjustment for her. Our pets have their own personalities and she had her own life and spirit in the apartment.

    All of our kittens came from upstate New York. In 2008, we were in Herkimer visiting the Bellinger Rose B & B in the house at 611 West German Street that my grandmother grew up in and then run by Chris and Leon Frost. In search of a kitten, we went with our kitty carrier to the Herkimer County Humane Society. 

    An older woman very nicely took us through the facility and showed us all the kittens in metal cages that were up for adoption. Finally we got to a back room and there was a little white kitten with black markings who was about a month old with her mamma cat. The woman opened the cage and let us hold her. The kitten clung to my tee shirt and wouldn't let go; I always say she chose us. We decided we wanted the little white kitten and took her to the front desk. There we were told this kitten was too young to be adopted and we could not take her. 

     We left frustrated. The next morning I woke up still thinking about that little white and black kitten. Over breakfast at the B and B, we told Chris and Leon Frost our sad tale. They very kindly offered to go get the kitten for us when she was old enough and we could come pick her up. We will be forever grateful to Chris and Leon. They picked up the kitten who lived for a short time at the Bellinger Rose B and B, my family's former home. And so we named her Bell. 

   Chris took a short video of the kitten on the front stairs and sent it to us. We were going to drive back up to Herkimer to get her but Chris and Leon reported that they had some kind guests who offered to drive Bell down to Yonkers, New York. So Ted and I took the train with our kitty carrier up to Yonkers and met the couple who so nicely delivered Bell to us. The whole thing was kind of a miracle; it was meant to be. We took the train back home, the three of us. 

   We had sixteen happy years with that girl. She was a part of the family and we miss her terribly.