Angels come to us in many different presence.

Pretty Cat was an angel sent to me in a difficult and lonely time and we found solace in each other’s company.

Our townhouse complex is home to a number of families who have cats.

Once upon a time, there was a single mom with two naughty boys who stayed two doors down from us. They often went away for weekends and Christmas holidays leaving Pretty Cat with either a house-sitter or the complex security guards to feed her.

We called her Pretty Cat because she was pretty and very gregarious.

It broke my heart when once again over the long year-end holidays, she was left to her own devices without even a house-sitter.

Now cats, as we know, love a bit of human conversation and company. I would talk to her as she sat outside her garden gate watching the passing traffic of humans and vehicles in front of her lonely domain.

She loved chatting and was very vocal as she rolled in delight at being noticed.

She eventually took to following me home, and in my garden she discovered the catmint and a companionable space to do a bit of feline ‘chilling’.

I was still heartsore from the loss of my two sixteen year old cats who had passed on to kitty heaven within a year of each other, only a few months before.

It was also a worrisome time for me at home on my own as my husband had undergone major surgery and was in hospital with complications for a good ten days or so.

So Pretty Cat moved in to my garden to do a bit of human-sitting for me.

Pretty Cat was my angel companion during that time – she clearly delighted in the company.  She loved it when I took to brushing and grooming her in our garden sessions.

She was happy to sit out in the garden and keep us company even when we were inside; and be part of the conversation when we had guests.  Quite at home she was.

When her family returned from the holidays she went back to them. After all, family is family …

As is often the case with single moms, whatever the reason may have been, it was clear that Pretty Cat’s family was packing up to move.  Over the days and weeks I watched the process of clearing out and saw the boxes and black bags waiting outside the gate in the morning to be taken out to the rubbish.

All the time I wondered when they would be leaving and if Pretty Cat would go with or be left behind.

And so it was, one evening, coming home from work, that I realized the move had taken place.  The house was empty.  I checked to see if Pretty Cat had been left behind. She hadn’t. I poignantly wondered if she would hate the new house and find her way back to our complex. But she didn’t.

Pretty Cat was sent to me when I needed her. She was a furry angel presence sent to comfort me and two years down the line, I still think about her and miss her Pretty Cat companion spirit.