Tribute to a Kindred Spirit

Jasper
*

This morning I was up early as usual. I sat at my computer in the glow of the lamplight, working steadily and with focused determination on something important. After what must have been a long while (because by the time this happened, the sun was up ... and I hadn't even realised), my concentration was broken by Jasper, who jumped onto my lap, purring.

The way he jumped was not steady. He tottered a bit before settling. I squeezed him tightly, recognizing in that moment of tottering that he is 'getting on in years'. He is now ten. I got him in 1998. He was born to a tabby cat named Lily (ironic, since that's the name of the novel I started writing a while around then) who lived under a friend's house. He was so small when I got him and on the drive home he sat perched on my shoulder like a bird.

I was living with my then house mate Frances who absolutely hated cats ... but somehow she accepted Jasper. Maybe because at that time we were living in a huge house and Jas spent his time in my room (which in itself was almost the size of a small apartment) and the balcony which ran along the length of it, which he used to access the great outdoors. From the word go, he was very loving and attached to me.

Standing at the sink brushing my teeth, if I happened to have on track pants or jeans (anything long), I would feel little claws climbing up me, as if I were a tree, from my ankles to my shoulder, to perch like a bird, where he would sit looking at us reflected in the mirror. Playing my keyboard sitting cross legged on the ground (as I used to play it then), the little claws would clamber up to my back to my shoulder and sit perched, watching my fingers on the keys.

The clambering had to stop when he got bigger and heavier!

I remember him once upon a time approving a friend of mine, V. We had fallen asleep and she was awakened in the night by something cold and clammy in her hand. When she checked, there was a dead lizard placed neatly in her upturned palm, with Jasper sitting nearby purring. To this day we laugh at the memory of that.

Over the years Jasper has moved with me three times and has never strayed or run away. Wherever I am with him, that is home. He has been an affectionate, loving, protective and understanding companion over these years. We have a silent understanding of each other. Those who don't have cats will not understand ... but there is a special and indescribable bond that exists between the feline and its human companion.

There are times when Jasper will wake me up in the morning by pressing one of his paws into my heart chakra, as though to activate it and/or say in his own way "I love you". Amazingly, he does this on Valentine's Day and Christmas Day and sometimes on out of the blue days, like yesterday. Instinctively, whenever I am embarking upon the menstrual cycle, he presses his paw into my stomach and massages it (those who have cats will know the cat massage), before I myself even know what is to come.

Whenever I am coming home, he is either sitting at the gate waiting for me or is at the door to welcome me in. He will run out to sniff my car ... to smell the stories of where I've been.

Sometimes he's a huge lion, hunting for prey, chasing neighbour's dogs out of the garden and down the road, attacking strange cats that enter the yard. Sometimes he's a frightened kitten ... scared of thunder, loud noises, workmen and one of the strange cats that might, on occasion, overpower him.

When he jumped onto my lap today and I felt his age, a wave of sadness passed over me - but it quickly passed as I felt my heart literally open up in great appreciation for having this special spirit companion in my life. Our animals are sent to us. In many ways he's still young, playful and very healthy, still gets up to mischief ... and I'm sure he has a long way to go.

There was something about today, the way he jumped onto my lap ... I knew that he knew that I was working on something important ... and that he was saying: "I'm here with you while you do it ..."

Thank you, Jasper, for being.


Sunday Scribblings: Listen up, this is important