Guide Cat

January 2007. My cat, Mary, passed away.

Mary was born in Osaka. When I was studying in the U.S., I took her with me. So she also studied abroad. Her airplane ticket was more expensive than mine.

Then I moved back to my hometown, Nagoya, with her. I had heard that cats hated moving. I was sorry about subjecting Mary to that, but I didn’t have a choice.

One of my neighbors told me our city crematory could accept pets. I also considered burying Mary in my yard. But I reckoned that if I could hold a funeral for her in the crematory (like I would have done for a human), that might be better for her.

I could have gone to the crematory by train. But I was not sure I could take the train with a dead cat. I felt that the other passengers might think it was spooky. In the end, I decided to take Mary in my car.

At the time, I was learning how to drive. The crematory was a bit far from our house. I needed to drive through the downtown area. I was really nervous. I thought it would be a long journey.

A week later, my grandmother, who lived with me, passed away. My mother was the chief mourner. But she already had Alzheimer’s disease, so I served as the actual chief mourner.

Thus, I found myself going to the city crematory again. But this time, I was not driving the car. Rather, I was in the passenger seat of the hearse. My mother should have been in that seat. But we were worried that the hearse driver might get confused if he talked with her. And so I watched the driving from the passenger seat. The driver might have been one of the best pro drivers. His driving was safe and polite.

My grandmother had died. A week before, Mary had died. One of my neighbors said, “The path to heaven might be long. Mary left first; now she is acting as a guide for your grandmother.”

Cats are mysterious animals, so that could be the case.

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Picture by jumsica