Seeing a Ghost

Yesterday the family took a little trip over to Cat Welfare to drop off some food and litter, and to pet the cats. Not anything that would really be a big deal, just getting out of the house and doing something different. But while we were there I saw a cat that made my heart miss a beat - a cat that looked enough like Sanders that for half a second I really thought it was him.

This is Sanders back in the day

This is Sampson, a cat at Cat Welfare

I hurried over to pet the Sanders clone and could not get over how alike they seemed. Sampson crossed his paws like Sanders. When I put my head down near him, Sampson head-butted it, just like Sanders. I gave Sampson a "kitty brain massage" and scratched his nose and ears in the way Sanders always liked and Sampson purred and purred and purred. Sampson even let me mess with the pads of his paws like Sanders always did.

I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I stood in that spot and petted Sampson for a very long time with tears streaming down my face. It was almost like having my Sanders back for few minutes. I stood there until it just became too much to bear, then Duane and the kids hurried me out of the shelter.

But I can't get that cat out of my mind. I know he isn't Sanders, but, oh my gosh, he's so much like Sanders. I thought about that cat all day. The last thing we need is another cat, but part of me really wants Sampson.  And I'm going back to see him. Ryan and I are going back to Cat Welfare while Wesley is at soccer this afternoon. I have to see that cat again. I have to. It's almost like being with my kitty boy. How can I resist that?