19 years ago, Aslan came into my life. I was a teenager, he was a frightened kitten tossed like so much trash on my family's farm. I came home from school and found a terrified kitten hiding under our porch. He was out of reach, and it was so dark and he was so dirty, it was impossible to see anything more than glowing amber eyes. I tried to entice him out with food; the tastiest, smelliest I could find - nothing. I tried everything I could think of, all to no avail.
Finally I sat down on the ground next to the porch and began to talk to him. I talked for hours and hours - almost 9 straight hours when all was said and done. I told him how I understood how scared and lonely he must be, and how much I wanted to comfort him. At times I talked utter nonsense. When even nonsense failed me, I began to sing, off key, "You Are My Sunshine." At that moment, he decided to take a leap of faith. As I was singing, a tiny orange tabby kitten crawled out from under the porch and in to my lap.
He may have just decided that was the only way to get me to shut up, but regardless of his motives, something was born in that moment that lasted his entire life. The closest I can come to describing it is the sentiment expressed in the opera Les pêcheurs de perles, "Your heart understood mine". In that time, he felt understood and connected with me on a level I don't think I've ever seen before or since. I'm not trying to exaggerate here, but it was like he found his soul mate, and I was it. My other cats have genuinely loved me; Aslan worshipped me like I was the center of the universe. And I'm not complaining, but sometimes being worshipped is a pain in the ass.
In many ways, he was not the easiest cat to love. He was a cat of extremes - he was afraid of everything. I jokingly called him my vampire kitty because he often only came out at night, when he thought everyone else was asleep. And when he did come out, he was attached to me in a way that was often suffocating. He would climb up my neck, and wrap himself around my neck, and was almost impossible to separate him from me. When he was with me, he demanded my constant attention, drooling on me and purring happily. In many ways, he taught me a great deal about loving the one you have for who they are, not who you wish them to be.
In subsequent years, other cats joined us. Unruly abandoned kittens I was bottle-feeding, others I fostered temporarily. One of those "unruly kittens", Moses, became his brother for the next 9 years, and the two of them were a part of every major event in my life from that day forward. They followed me to my first apartment, through medical crisis', and welcomed Nate into our lives. When Moses suddenly became unexpectedly ill and died after an intense 3 week fight for life, Aslan howled for hours in the middle of the night, every .single. night. until his sister Holly joined us over a year later. His grief was palpable.
The last few years have been lived very comfortably with me, Nate, Holly, and Boo. As he aged, I closely monitored him, but he exhibited every sign of health.
Continued Next Time. . .
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