I lost a good friend yesterday. As with most serendipitous things, Loulou arrived by pure chance. I didn’t choose her. I inherited her. It was only supposed to be six months, but ten years later she was still with me… Sometimes its the smallest decisions that can change your life forever.
Designer she was not. Battersea born and rescued she was. Lovely with it, though. Despite being a feline fashionista. And in case you don’t believe me, I kid you not…
Favourite gay man: Gok Wan. Favourite designers: ‘Miaouwschino’, ‘Miaow Miaow’, ‘Georgio Armiaowni’ and, of course, ‘Prrrrrada’! Favourite words: ‘Sushi’ and ‘Nobu’! Go figure. For someone so small and furry, she did have big ideas!
Actually, I could never work out whether she thought she was human. Maybe I was just the Alpha cat in the pack…? I had many parties where Loulou sat at the table and was part of the conversation. Not on the table, mind you (we do have standards), just at the table. Daintily perched on a chair. Listening. Observing. Taking it all in. Perfect guest. Good manners, great listener and an even better radar. Could sniff a love rat at thirty paces! Useful skill if champagne has numbed your owner’s common sense, but that is another story…
In the end, Loulou’s exit was quiet and dignified, much like her life. She was much loved and I will miss her sorely. Mostly because when my own life was pretty pear-shaped, she was the reason I would get up and go on. Well…she needed feeding, and – at that time – I needed a reason to fight the despair that threatened to overwhelm me. And maybe, just maybe…it’s because she is the last connection with a life I had, but no longer aspire to.
Sometimes, we have to be ready to say goodbye to one life in order to understand what we are to be in the next…
Pier Point 