It only seems like five minutes since we said goodbye to Tomsky and I wrote that blog post about the
story of how this pair of ginger pickles came to be in our lives.
Yesterday we lost Ollie too.
He wasn't really the same after Tomsk died. Ollie had spent most of his life like this, all wrapped up in his brother and having his head licked clean every day. Since Tomsk went he was lost and looked so lonely all on his own. His meow became an empty squeak, his kidneys deteriorated and his eyes became partially blind. He followed me round everywhere, never satisfied until he was securely on a warm knee. Bless him.
Yesterday morning (I wish I had a photo as it is clearly in my head) I got up to find him sitting in bed with my friend Rachel, who was visiting, and her little boy Otis. Rachel was having a cup of tea, Otis was having a banana and Ollie was purring. It was a picture of cosiness. Ollie got up for his breakfast and five minutes later we found him collapsed on the kitchen floor panting.
The next two hours were so hard. The vet wouldn't come out on a Sunday. He was too ill and distressed to take all the way to Halifax in the car. Poor little man. We just made him as comfortable as he could and kept him company while he passed.
Ollie loved everyone. If you came to our house he would be curled up in your lap within five minutes like he'd known you forever. He liked to make people feel at home. So it was right that everyone was here with him. Thanks goodness Euan was home from uni to say goodbye. They were good buddies.
Ollie was surrounded by love and so was I.
Ollie we miss you, you sweet little boy. Thankyou for ALL the love you have given us for the last sixteen years. It's the end of an era. The ginger boy era. You boys were the best!