A Visit from the Other Side

I have shared parts of this story before with some friends who have lost beloved pets.  Within the past few weeks, the memory of Tarkie has popped up again and again; as with things like this, intuitively I know now this story needs to be written.

When we were looking to adopt a cat from the local shelter, my partner went to visit first and saw an older male brown tabby that simply put, looked sad.  The story was that his owner had had him since he was a kitten but had to give him up because she was moving.  His name was Sharkey, and aptly so because he got swipey with his claws when one invaded his personal space.  He also came with health issues.  We adopted him mainly because at his older age and with health concerns, we worried Sharkey wouldn’t find a home.  We renamed him Tarquin as we like all things Celtic.  Tarkie became his nickname.  Tarquin was also a character from Sophie Kinsella’s books so I liked that.

Looking back now, it was hard.  I would come home after work and a long commute to first clean all the poop smears on the stairs and floors and sometimes vomit.  He never learned to cover his feces properly and he also had really soft bowel movements because of his health issues and food sensitivities.  Oh, and he loved to sleep on our bed under the covers so brown stains (and laundry days) were plentiful.   But he was so incredibly obedient; he would stay still whenever it was time for his medicines and he always came back inside the house the instant we called out his name.  His personality was spunky like mine.  He was such a lap cat that whenever we made movements to get up, he would growl.  So the smears on the bedsheets became less of an issue over time. 

Around the time his health worsened, this coincided with I suppose, a spiritual gift that awakened within me.  I began to feel the palms of my hands pulsate, as if they had little hearts beating inside of them.  This happened in varying intensity, at different times of the day, whether I was around people or not.  I remember I would just stare at my hands sometimes.  I was more curious than afraid.  Then I began to imagine that energy was emanating from my hands and I would play with it while sitting on my bed at night.  At times like this, Tarkie would come and sit on my lap and I would direct this energy towards him.  It seemed to make him feel calm and at peace.  In turn, he would often perch directly on top of my very sore left shoulder while I was lying in bed and purr loudly.  Shortly after, I learned Reiki and whenever I practiced on anyone at home, he would make a beeline towards us and lie down on the recipient, happily absorbing some of that healing energy himself.  At other times, he would paw at the air around me, at something he clearly saw in my auric field!

We really didn’t have him in our life for very long.  I held his paw as he took his last breath at the vet.  I prayed for his soul to go to the Light and be healed.  I balled my eyes out for days. 

Now, when I think of him, I have tears of loving remembrance.

It was a month or two before Samhain when he passed.  I asked the Universe, could he cross over and visit me when the veil was thin?  I hoped he could visit his previous owner too, because I know she loved him dearly. I was feeling uplifted about all this, after having recently read “Life on the Other Side” by Sylvia Browne.

One night, perhaps in February, I was sitting on the sofa and I felt a movement to my right, like something had jumped onto the sofa.  Around this time, I was getting used to sensing energies around me so this didn’t phase me.  It had been some time since I sent that request about Tarkie.  At the back of my mind, I had doubts but hope was intermingled with it.

Then one night a few weeks later, I was awoken from my slumber.  I felt something jump onto the foot of the bed.  The bedroom was lit up.  I saw a swirl of light energy race around the room excitedly.  Could it be??  And as if reading my mind, he made sure I knew it was him.  I briefly felt intense heat on the small of my back; he often slept there so this was him saying, “Yes it’s me!” by way of feeling.   Then, I heard his unmistakable voice, his version of a meow: “Meh!”  I sat up on the bed, mesmerized by what I was experiencing.  I tried to pet him but he didn’t stay in one spot for very long.  He was still blazing around the room and he was ecstatic to see me.  

A few nights later, as I was lying in bed, I felt the bed move again.  Then, the weight of paws on my chest.  Tarkie often did this – he’d just walk right onto me.  I fell fast asleep a second later.  He was there to comfort me; I had written in my journal the night before that I was feeling sad about the state of the world.

It was about a month later that I was awoken during the night by Tarkie?  Except this cat didn’t look like him or vocalise at all.  It was a small calico and was young; its spine felt boney.

In the morning, I felt quite bewildered by the visitation.  I even told my partner, I think the wrong cat visited us! 

Was it a different cat that used to live in this house perhaps? 

Or was it Tarkie, but reincarnated as a calico? 

As I asked that question, I knew it had to be the latter.  The possibility was shown to me that we could have connected with this calico, but we weren’t ready to adopt another cat. 

 I know we’ll see him again.  On the Other Side.