Félicia's Leaf

Félicia was an indoor cat all her life. In our previous apartment on the second-floor, she was able to go out on our balcony, but in this basement apartment, she was only able to see directly outside from the sun room. During Autumn, she would position herself on the large window sill and try to catch the falling leaves as they swirled and danced outside the window. On particularly windy days, she would go back and forth chasing the leaves--such a funny sight!

Félicia had stones that irritated her bladder. The pain she associated with peeing in the litter box would cause her to pee other places. One place she tried was the carpet in the sun room. We couldn't let her continue that behavior so we had to keep her out of that room. We were sad because we knew how much she loved looking at the birds, the squirrels, other cats that came by, and, of course, the leaves.

Imagine my surprise yesterday when I went into the sun room and saw this sight out of the window: a leaf suspended in mid-air as if by magic. Immediately, I went outside to take some pictures. I have posted one of them; I titled this photo "Félicia's Leaf." Ironically, when I tried to take a picture of the leaf from inside the sun room, the only place I could get a good shot was the sill where Félicia would usually lie to observe the world outside.

Michel came home early yesterday and was able to see the leaf and take some photos of it, too. A few hours later the leaf was gone. No trace of it remained. In the 3 years we have lived here, I have never seen a leaf suspended like that.

As Félicia was leaving her body, I asked her to let me know she was okay. The appearance of this leaf, the arrival of the parcel after I posted my last entry, and the presence of Félicia in a dream I had the morning of October 1, which I will recount on another day, all seemed to be her way of letting me know that she is just fine.

--Vicky :o)