My heart akes, and I can scarce sit to pen these words.
My sister is gone from this world.
This morning when the sun showed hisself I set forth to her barn.
I had not been there in a while, for we keep close to our homes in winter.
My sister’s grown daughter was setting the night’s catch of rats by the door.
I passed into the barn, where I saw none but the kits and a young cat or two. All kin to me, I believe.
I thought my sister had stepped out, so settled myself to wait.
Then my little niece told me that if I sought my sister I had best go to the yard, for she was laid in a hole there.
I could not believe mine ears. I sayt, “But I saw her not long since.”
“All saw her not long since,” sayt her grown daughter. “But this barn is mine now.”
They told me my sister went sudden. She sayt she was weary, and wished to rest alone in the straw. None saw her for a day or more. Then they heard their master say, “Our old lady’s dead.”
At first they thought he meant his mother. Or our Earl’s. Then they understood my sister’s sleep had been her last.
Later they heared their master tell one of his own kits that she’d come with him from the old Earl’s stable many years ago. He did not know she’d accompanied him until she leapt from the cart that carried his goods and gear.
He sayt she was a good cat.
I sat a while in the barn where her scents were.
Then I walked home. I went to my chamber and lay with my nose on my paws.
And it come to me that I’d misheard my kin-cats, and if I were to go to the barn on the morrow my sister would be there.
Then I thought of the old Earl’s stable where we were born, kits together, oft saucie to our poor mother and to our brother who was the favourite.
And of my sister’s way of making mock of me, calling me your Gibship.
When first I came to this place, how joyed I was to learn she lived near.
She’s with the Queen Cat of Heaven now, but oh, the heaviness in me.
The Earl of Southampton's Cat 
Deepest condolences to Gib 😦
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I wish cats would live forever. Wrote a short book on my Sweetie.
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I saw that – I’ll follow it up.
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That’s so sad…
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Such sad news. Now we have heavie hearts too.
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Gib’s sister will be missed.
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This is a very moving piece. Sisters can be (are) pesky, but there’s much to be said for the sense of shared history and experience that the sibling relationship engenders.
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True. And although Gib and his sister enjoyed sniping at each other, the fact that they were the two (out of three) who weren’t favoured by their mother probably strengthened their bond.
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A beautiful obituary from a barn cat on the loss of a sister.
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Thanks! But Gib’s sister was the barn cat. Gib rose in the world to become a cat in an Earl’s household, but he stayed close to his sister.
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I was reading for the first time, so was not aware of the history … was just absorbed in the loss …
feeling a cat myself loosing a sister.
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Yes – I guessed you were new to Gib’s story. (Normally he writes of happier events.) Welcome!
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This is so sad and tender indeed. Beautifully written and expressive. What remains of us is Love. (Larkin, slightly misquoted).
🐱🐈😺😼😸😹😻😽😿😾
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Thanks – Gib would be pleased to hear that.
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Awww… 😦
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My heart is heavie also. Gib will miss his sister and so will we.
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Yes – she leaves a gap behind her.
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Max and Rocky (my cats) send condolences.
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Thanks – Gib would be grateful.
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Sad piece. Condolences to Gib, and the rest of the barn cats.
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Thanks!
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Oh, poor Gib.
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I wept tears reading these lines. So true are your words (like any great writer) you have pulled me into your great, so believable tale. 🌹
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Thanks!
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Oh poor Gib! Such a sad and moving post. I’ll miss her sauciness.
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Oh, I’m sorry to read this. I just discovered Gib’s blog a short while ago — what a moment to join the crowd of his followers! Deepest condolences … also from my own beloved four-pawed companion, Holly. She, too, knows what it means to lose beloved siblings (even though adopted ones).
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Many thanks to you and Holly for the condolences! Yes, Gib’s no longer a young cat – nearly 15 by my calculation – so he’s reached that stage of life when he’s likely to lose relatives and old friends.
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So is Holly — 16 this past month, and we’ve been together all her life. She’s the last survivor of a trio (of different ages) … when she goes, too, I’ll be devastated. So I totally understand how Gib and you are feeling right now.
That said, I absolutely love Gib’s diary. GREAT job — I hope he (and it) will be around for a long while yet!
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It’s heart-breaking to lose any loved animal companion, but the ones who’ve been with us a long time carry a lot of our memories with them. However, Gib’s a healthy cat who leads a comfortable life, so he should be around for a while longer.
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Fingers crossed!
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So sad 😦 My heart just broke a little bit xxx
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Yes – poor Gib!
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And even cats can mourn. This is a lovely post.
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Thanks!
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This made me so sad. My youngest cat has mourned the death of her mother these past six months and howls at night. Lovely tale.
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Your poor cat! It’s heartbreaking when they continue to mourn the loss of a friend.
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It is – they are adjusting but elderly now.
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The older ones find adjusting more difficult, I’m sure.
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They are also losing their cognitive abilities – it is like running a retirement home for cats.😄
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I know the feeling. One of my mother’s old cats suddenly peed on the kitchen bench. My mother feared a urinary infection, but the vet attributed it to dementia.
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Poor little thing (and your mother).
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Awww, we’ll miss Gib’s sweet sis. And we miss you too, btw. Happy Tout Year!
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A Happy New Year to you too, Mitch. What a year 2016 has been. I’ve been away on holiday, and then have had other things to attend to, so my visits to the blogosphere have been sporadic. However, Gib and I should be back soon.
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