ROBYN HAS DEPARTED

Robyn crossed the Rainbow Bridge at 6:01 a.m., June 14, 2023.

I’m aware of the exact time, because for the first time with one of my kitties, I was with her at the moment she left.

Usually, when it’s clear the time has come, I take them to bed with me and let them sleep in the crook of my arm, so they won’t be alone. The others all passed over during the night while we both slept.

This morning, I woke up at 5:50 a.m., and knew I was fully awake, that it wasn’t “Nature’s Call” and I’d come back for more sleep. I got up, went in the bathroom and did my “morning routine.” I came back in the bedroom and noticed Sweetie and Roscoe were sitting attentively on the bed, looking at Robyn as she lay there under the covers for warmth.

I came over and touched her. It took a long moment to finally feel her breathing, which was very slow and shallow, even moreso than it had been earlier when I checked on her when I did answer nature’s call around 3 a.m.

I sat down on the bed beside her and stroked her. She didn’t respond, but I kept on. And then, her body twitched, she raised her head for a moment, and then lay back. I checked my watch; it was 5:58 a.m. Suddenly her legs started moving as if she was running, and her back arched.

That kept on for a long moment and then stopped at 6:01. I couldn’t feel a heartbeat or er breathing. She was gone. I think that motion was when her spirit ran across the bridge.

I first met Robyn in 2007, when I met Charlie. There was this big white cat running across the back yard, with a litle gray kitten running after him. Over the next week, I saw them in the yard, and he cared for the kitten, licking its head, something I had never seen an adult male do - usually, they’re a mortal threat to a young kitten.

The next week, Charlie appeared at the front door and invited himself inside. I didn’t see the kitten anywhere. A few days later, I went in the garage and noticed movement. I went over and looked behind some boxes, and there was the kitten, hiding in the corner.

I put put a bowl of dry food and a bowl of water in the garage. The next day the food was eaten and the water bowl was almost empty. I kept feeding the kitten for another month until we learned about FixNation. I trapped the kitten and took it there. When I returned to pick it up, I was told it was a female.

When I came home Jurate suggested we bring her inside and adopt her. We named her Robyn. We knew nothing about how to civilize a feral, so she grew up wild inside the house, always a quiet presence, but always just beyond reach. But she was always Charlie’s friend.

That changed this past March, when she jumped on my lap one evening while I was watching TV. She let me stroke her, and by the end of the evening, she had “crossed over” from feral to domestication.

I only got three months of knowing Robyn as a friend, but it was enough.

I’m glad I was there for her at the end.

I’m sure her Charlie was waiting for her at the other end of the bridge.

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