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It has taken two full years to get
to the point where I'm able to write something regarding Lindsey. When he
disappeared in September 2003, he was just 10 years old. He slipped away
during a busy period. Meda had to leave for a mainland conference, and although
I searched the neighborhood for a week, going out morning and evening to
walk the streets calling his name in hopes that he would suddenly reappear
from some hidden recess and follow me home, there was no such luck.
I think the source of my writer's block regarding Lindsey has been
guilt. Guilt that I failed to follow my gut feelings instead of the vet's
inconclusive results. Guilt that I didn't understand something serious
might be going on in the days before his disappearance. Guilt that bringing
Ms. Annie into the household as a rescued kitten might have added enough
stress to make a critical difference, although Lindsey gave every
indication of being the most unflappable of our cats. Guilt that I somehow
missed an important clue that might, if discovered in normal course, have
let Lindsey live out the long life we had expected. But it didn't work out
that way.
So here I am, two years later, trying to find a sufficient voice to
publicly share some thoughts about this gray feline friend. That I haven't
really managed, but I can still tell his story and share some photos. My
suggestion--read about Mr. Lindsey first, then
click on any photo and for larger versions of the pictures.
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This is our earliest photo of Lindsey, taken the day he and his sister were rescued
from the McDonalds in Laie by Sarah and Amanda Emerson, twin daughters of
our friends and then-neighbors. It was, as I recall, May 15, 1993. We
agreed to take one of the kittens when they were a bit older, and after
returning from a trip to Philadelphia. They kept the other.
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The big day was the 4th of July. I
took a cat carrier over to the Emerson's house and came back with Lindsey.
He's the small pile of gray at my feet in the top photo, taken soon after
his arrival in his new home.
Lindsey was, from the first, a most satisfactory cat. If I recall
correctly, he was our first kitten in six years, since the other cats we
had adopted after moving to Kaaawa had been adults when we took them in.
He was social, playful, handsome, and photogenic. In fact, Lindsey
appeared as Mr. February 10 in the 1995 "365 Cats" calendar, and
the photo was reused the next year in a kitten calendar
by the same company.
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And, in those special ways, Lindsey
was really "my" cat. As a kitten, he would climb into our bed,
stretch out on my chest, and nuzzle my beard, an endearing habit that stuck
with him through the next decade.
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He did love to get into things,
like this pair of my jeans. Paper bags were also a favorite. He sometimes
got into more difficult situations, like the day he arrived home after
apparently rolling in the fresh coat of varnish on some neighbor's deck.
Getting in the shower with wild cat in one hand
and a can of paint remover in the other was a bit of excitement I hope not
to repeat.
Continued...go to Part 2-->
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