Afterwards

When my Charlie cat died, I did A LOT of Googling about pets passing, specifically about how they come back to see their owners. I know that some of you may not believe in this sort of thing, but I do, and at that time I needed to desperately. The loss of Charlie was great.

I read that sometimes, owners might hear their paws scampering throughout the house or that they might hear them jump down from a ledge. Cats have this very distinct loud sort of thud sound that they make when they land, despite being light on their feet. Another thing I read said that owners may think that they see their pets sitting in one of their favorite spots or that they visit them in their dreams.

I kept looking for Charlie, any sign of him. I wanted to know he was ok, but more so I wanted to know that he was with me. My kitchen has four steps that go down into a small basement area. At the bottom of those stairs is a large brown recliner. That was Charlie’s spot. I could walk past those stairs and almost always find him sitting on top of that recliner. So, in my search for Charlie, I kept walking by those stairs and looking for him. He wasn’t there.

I prayed for him to come to me and day after day I looked for signs that he was here…but I found nothing. One night, I had a dream. I was in my old house. The one where Santa delivered the cats to. I was sitting in the living room and all of my family was there: my kids, my husband, my parents, and my siblings. All of a sudden, I saw Charlie! He was walking towards me and I called out, “Guys, Charlie’s here, Charlie’s here!” But no one saw him, except me. “He’s right here,” I exclaimed.

Charlie crawled up into my lap and gave me his belly, much like a dog would. His big yellow eyes looked so happy and he was smiling. I rubbed his belly as his purrs ran through my body. I woke up knowing that he was ok and with me. I felt peace.