It’s 6:30 am
I just finished my morning workout
Cup of coffee in my hand
I would walk to the bedroom
Just behind my heels Camille would follow
Every morning we had coffee together and listened to the stories told on NPR
She would jump up on the bed and I would sit beside her.
She liked the left side, it was her side of the bed
I would place her pillow just the way she liked it
She would cuddle up on the pillow right beside me
Turn her head,
Those big soft green eyes would gaze up at me with love
She would meep (she did not mew) and tell me to pet her
I would pet her silky soft forgiving fur
She would purr
For fifteen years, this was our morning routine
Camille gave me such comfort and love
For fifteen years she was my best friend, who I told everything, who always greeted me at the door when I returned home and had me follow her to her favorite rug to be petted. She would roll around and purr, lick her paw, she was so happy to have me home.
In or near a sunny window was her favorite place to be.
She would nap in the sun for long hours
All I had to do is sit and she wanted to sit with me
She trained me so well, to sit a certain way so she could sit in my lap.
When I read a book, she would always rub the side of her head to mark it.
When, I was drawing or painting she would sit near me. Tap my back if I was in my chair so I would lift her so she could sit with me.
She critiqued every one of my works, she sniffed them and would look up at me as to say I like this one, or what the heck were you thinking?
Her favorite ice cream was Ben and Jerry’s Heath Bar Crunch.
Barbara Striesand was her favorite singer and she loved to watch Road Runner cartoons.
She has gone to a place where she once again has energy to jump, play and chase butterflies
No longer does she feel pain or illness
I know she has found a warm sunny window to perch in and look out at a lovely garden.
I still feel her love and warmth each night when I go to bed, I know she still sleeps on the left pillow beside me.