Goodbye, Lucy
Posted August 9th, 2007 by Rich Heldenfels
The House of Heldenfels has included three cats: Oliver, Sabrina and Lucy. On Wednesday morning, after a night in which it was clear that she was fading, Lucy passed away …
I wasn't prepared for how emotional that was. I knew the bride, who had had Lucy years before we met, would be shaken. And my younger son, who was fond of all the cats. But I was the one who nicknamed Lucy WDC, for World's Dumbest Cat. I never stopped grumping about her gorging to the point that a little barf pile would soon follow, or her staring at a cracked-open door — a crack large enough that Sabrina and Ollie would easily push their way through, while Lucy would wait until someone came to open it wider for her.
But I also knew, especially as we sat up through most of the night Tuesday, each of us talking some time to hold Lucy as she was clearly fading, that she was also the least demanding and most mellow of the three. She would perch next to you, silent, waiting for a prolonged scratch behind the ears. Her most insistent move was to shove her head into your arm, or to wave her paw at you, when the head-scratching stopped before it was ready. She was a sweet old thing.
And I loved her.
August 9th, 2007 at 8:49 am
I'm sorry for your loss. Your Lucy sounds a lot like our Emmy, who is probably also a viable candidate for WDC. She and her brother Oscar are just as much of our "children" as our little boy is (after all, they were there first!). It's obvious that Lucy was a very lucky cat to have had a family that loved her as much as yours did.
August 9th, 2007 at 9:16 am
So sorry for your loss, Rich.
August 9th, 2007 at 11:08 am
I was hoping you'd write a little something in here about Lucy. She really was a sweet girl, and I'm so glad you all stayed up with her through the night so she didn't feel alone. She had a great life, and she knew she was loved — that's what's important.
August 9th, 2007 at 11:20 am
Thank you one and all. The house still feels odd without her, but we're getting through.
August 10th, 2007 at 1:48 pm
I'm so sorry for your loss. We too have 3 cats–all different personalities. We're watching Lucky, our 21 year old cat closely, his time is close and we will miss him terribly. We've had him 20 of his 21 years and it will be the loss of a family member.
August 13th, 2007 at 8:56 am
Animal lovers understand the trauma of losing a beloved pet. It has been several years since we lost one of our pack (now five), but with his younger "twin" still with us, we think of him every day. (Another of the pack is stretched across my desk as I write this.)