TOULOUSE.

Sept. 4, 1978 to March 23, 1996

Back to Charlie's

LOVE AND YOGHURT

LOVE AND YOGHURT "I've been a city cat and acountry cat," Toulouse purred deeply as he stretched lazilyin front of the little iron stove.

It was warm and cozy in Charlie and Helyn's little house at thefoot of the Santa Cruz mountains.

He took a few licks of his french vanilla ice cream and went backto his story.

"Do you remember when we first met, Sally? That was an adjustment,huh...and then they came back from that long trip and they weremarried..."

Toulouse forgot where he was going with his story and he tookadvantage of the quiet moment to dip in his paw into the tin ofcatnip. He lay back and let the warmth slide through his body.

"I think about the the mountain place sometimes...chasingthose dogs around...they were good companions...and the huntingwas so good."

"I'm just an old country cat with a really big deck now."

He smiled to Sally, perched on the arm of the enormous sofa, "AndI wouldn't have it any other way."

How about when Georgia came to live with us... I remember whenI could catch that many birds..."

Toulouse was starting to lose the battle of oncoming sleep whenhe remembered the reason he had started telling Sally his thoughtsthat night.

"The best thing about getting this old, is high fat yoghurt,and they even put it in your bowl..."

It's your turn to go in and check on them before you go to sleep,Sally. and don't forget..."

As he slid into his dream, Toulouse felt himself floating throughthe air while a pair of arms lifted him. He was smiling.

It had been one of his best days.

My thoughts are with you. Much love,

P.S. It is the right of the story teller to changedetails of said story as they see fit or as their feeble memoryserves them and they can't help it if the little gnomes of theinternet steal their story away never to be the same again...