"Cat-Too" In Memory of Cavendish

On the morning of August 5th 2000 the doorbell rang. I answered it and a friend stood there looking pale and anxious. I knew that something was wrong even before she spoke. 'Have you seen Cavendish today?', she asked. Cavendish was my 9-year-old tabby cat, the most affectionate and gentle and beautiful creature. Before I could force an answer from my throat, I knew why she was asking me: setting off to the park that morning with her little boy, she'd found Cavendish's body on the pavement. Cavendish had been killed by a passing car. It was the worst moment of my life (I've lost human relatives, too, but the shock and pain of that morning remains incomparable).

By December 2000 I'd started to come to terms with the loss. One mystery remained, though: where had her collar gone? She always wore it, but when we found her body, it was gone. I wanted it badly so that I could wear something she always wore. Then it struck me: what better memorial of the most wonderful cat than a tattoo?

If I could have had her image tattooed on my heart, then I would have done. In fact, it feels as though she's already there. I wanted an external exhibit of my commitment to her, so on 22nd December I had my first tattoo: the silhouette of a cat in profile with a bushy tail on the inside of my left ankle.

It's something of a 'trademark' now; I'm a University Lecturer and it fascinates my students! More importantly, it stands not only for Cavendish but also for all the other cats I have loved, and have yet to love. Wherever I go, that love goes with me, both inside my heart and forever inked into my skin.

-Chester Emma

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