Saying goodbye to a friend.

I had to say goodbye to a dear friend today. A friend that I have known for right at twenty years. When he came into my life, he was pretty young, but he matured quickly and except for that one time that he broke his leg, he managed to stay reasonably clear of trouble.


Then of course there was his younger brother. A spunky little guy that we lost all too soon about this time last year. They were a pair. With the littlest always trying to mug his older brother.

My friend's name was Buns. A cute little name that just sort of morphed it's way into existence over several years. When Buns first arrived, he was this cute little fur ball of cinnamon colored fur. My daughter fell in love with him instantly and immediately named him Cinnamon.

As time passed, she dressed him in the finest dolls clothes and degraded him by pushing him around the house all dressed up and in the stroller, but Buns never complained. We came to call him Cinna-Buns latter on, then after a while he simply became Buns.

He seemed more comfortable with that name and he knew when you were talking about him. As time passed, his old trick knee played up on him and he learned to sit with it stuck out to one side. Most folks that knew him said that he looked a lot like his daddy (me). both of us seemingly always had serious faces.

But that never stopped my friend from getting up in my lap and giving me kitty kisses every night. Buns was an outside cat up until about a year ago. right around the time we lost his little brother to coyotes, I knew that it was time to bring him in as he just couldn't get around as well as he use to with the bad leg and all.

I have so many memories of my little friend that I wouldn't know where to begin, but the times looked back on when he use to wrestle with his adopted brother were the best. Those and the nightly kitty kisses to his daddy.

As time passed we both began to age, but Buns got way ahead of me. Something about that seven years for every one of ours. Which would have put my friend at the ripe old age of around 144 today.

Buns went home today. The past week had seen the dramatic changes that you always look for in and older animal and at the same time dread to see. No longer able to make it to the cat box, and as of the last couple of days, all interest in eating was gone.

That's when I realized this morning that it was time. I gave my friend a bath this afternoon then sat with him for several hours just stroking him and listening to him purr. He wasn't in any pain, but the brightness of his eyes had left him. I already knew a year ago that his hearing was failing and I suspected that cataracts were taking their toll on his vision also.

But as we sat and rocked and petted and reminisced about the good times and all that we had seen and done together, it seemed to make things a little more bearable as the reality rapidly approached for both of us.

I waited until the latter part of the afternoon before I decided that it was time for my friend to catch his train to the Rainbow Bridge. We went outside and walked around and visited all his favorite old spots. And he sat there in my arm and looked intently at those places that he had roamed so frequently. I placed him on the soft grass on his towel and invited him to smell the grass again and touch it, but he seemed content just to gaze at it and then look up at me.

The time arrived and it was time to say our goodbyes to his momma. My wife was understandably upset, but she too knew that there was little left for us to do. So I loaded up and cradled my friend in my arm while we took a slow and scenic drive to see the vet one last time. We drove through the old neighborhood where my friend was born almost twenty years ago. and he looked at the passing trees and lawns almost as if he recognized them and remembered.

After we arrived at our destination, they took us back to a room and the vet came in to see us. He knew by the looks on our faces that this was not the kind of visit that he liked to have with patients and family. After a brief conversation and examination, the vet confirmed what I already knew. It was time for my friend to leave this earth.

The procedure was explained and the vet noted that he had been seeing Buns almost since the first day he had been in practice. The doc gave my friend a shot of sedative to relax him and allow him to go to sleep and be at ease. Then after a few more minutes he was given the final injection.

My friend didn't want to leave. He resisted the sedative, but finally lowered his head and relaxed. I sat there with him the entire time. Rubbing his head and holding his paw and talking to him. Letting him know that it was alright and that soon he would be with his little brother at the Rainbow Bridge. And there would be no more pain and no more arthritis or stiff legs. No more anything but the joy of just being renewed in spirit and reunited with his little buddy Duncan.

A little while later, my friend took his last breath and passed on from this world and to the magical side that daddy had told him would be there. He is there now with Duncan his little brother. I gave him a message to give to Duncan for me. I never got to say goodbye to Duncan, so I wanted Buns to tell him that I still loved him to and that I haven't forgotten him and that I think of him everyday.

Watching Buns pass today, was one of the hardest things that I have ever had to do. But I knew that it was something that had to be done. It was merciful and my friend had lived a log and full life. What more could a cat ask for. What more could any of us ask for.

My Buns buddy is at the Rainbow Bridge now. He and my other buddy Duncan are running and playing and dancing in the grass. I can see them in my minds eye as I can sense that they are both in a better place now.

I will always love my Buns buddy. He was my biggest buddy and my bestest friend and the bestest cat that there ever was or ever will be. And he loved his daddy to the very end, when he laid his head down for the last time on my hand and said goodbye.

Rest in peace my friend, and know that your daddy loves you and that I will miss you so very much.