Dmitri

It has been six months today since my best friend left me. As I am speaking of a cat, the words may sound like hyperbole, or the ranting of a recluse without human interaction. But I assure you I have many human friends. It’s just that, while many of them are good friends, none could ever be the simple, loyal, consistent companion that Dmitri was to me.

He came to us as a kitten following a rare visit my daughter had with her mother, unannounced, as she returned home. I hadn’t anticipated having another cat, and he proved to be a challenging little kitten.

I honestly wasn’t all that fond of him then, yet it was not that Dmitri grew on me, but rather I grew up with him. He was the singular consistency in my post-college life, and had been with me for every major adult milestone, good and bad. As I matured and mellowed, he did the same, and I think we came to appreciate and admire one another. Looking at him, talking to him, it was at times a cathartic reminder of all I had been, of where I had come from.

Friends, girlfriends, pets, cars, addresses, jobs, even my daughter all came and went, but Dmitri was always there. When I got home from work, he was lounging in the driveway, or on the steps, or in the shrubberies, greeting me with a reassuring meow, and his life-of-Riley demeanor perpetually instantly lifted all the days’ problems from my shoulders. Whatever troubles befell me, Dmitri could jump into my lap and offer more solace than any friends’ sage advice.

Dmitri’s final vet visit was an event unimaginably difficult for me, the most difficult decision I have ever made, much more so than I had anticipated. Racked with grief and remorse, and second-guessing, I cried for months, I am not ashamed to say. It hit hardest when I returned home. He was not there in the driveway to meet me, and I knew he never would be again.

Since his passing I was left with one especially spoiled kitty, but we recently adopted a new kitten. I told myself that I would be ready in April, and my wife was sweet enough to find one for me, and she has been especially delightful. I wanted to honor him not by forever mourning, but by maybe giving another kitty a good home, and hoping perhaps part of his spirit finds its way back here through her.

I want to thank Dmitri, thank him for being my best friend. I can’t say it to him now, so I’ll say it to the universe, and hope he hears. Thank you, Friend.