The everyday blog of Richard Bartle.
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8:55am on Monday, 2nd February, 2026:
Anecdote
We're in Yorkshire today for a flying visit to see my stepmother. Our grandson has a cold that he caught off me, so let's hope she doesn't catch it off him.
Last week, her cat, Ronnie, was hit by a DPD delivery van and killed. He'd been a fixture here for over a decade, and every time we visited, there he was. It was weird realising that all the little habits we'd developed, like closing the bedroom door so he couldn't get in and sleep on the bed, weren't applicable any more. Even coming downstairs in the morning and looking to where he'd normally be eating his breakfast (or turning his nose up at it — both were equally probable), only to remember he wasn't there, was weird.
He was an old cat, and had a lot of health problems. He was going deaf, and that's probably what caused him to stick his head out between parked cars just as a van was going past. At least it was quick, though; he was declining, and could have endured a lot of suffering in his final months. Still, it was something of a shock.
My stepmother (she isn't the evil kind, by the way) is now having to adjust to life on her own. She has more freedom to travel but less company, and of course she misses Ronnie a lot. She's not intending to find a replacement, but the way it is with cats, they often find owners rather than the other way round.
I like cats, even though they're indifferent to me. Dogs, on the other hand, dislike me, but that's OK because I don't think much of them, either (except collies; collies and I have an understanding).
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Copyright © 2026 Richard Bartle (richard@mud.co.uk).