The Story of Rockwell

On October 26, 2013, I was walking home in from the grocery store when I saw a tiny cat come up to me, brazenly and rubbing himself against my leg. I thought it was odd as most of the cats in the neighborhood where far from friendly, this little guy showed me his belly, and came when I called to him. I wasn’t sure what was happening but wondered if he would follow me home and sure enough he did.

I called the local humane society about picking him up as I wasn’t allowed cats and was deathly allergic but blessedly they never showed up. After waiting a few hours, I decided to name him Rockwell and picked up cat supplies from the dollar store. He fit in immediately.

Life with Rockwell taught me many valuable life lessons. First thing, you can’t live your life as selfishly as you once did, as there is another living breathing being you have to care for. You have to exert superhuman levels of patience as the cat gets the zoomies in the middle of the night. But it was worth it, as Rockwell was a steadfast companion who watched me knit my favorite scarf, who sat on my lap while I listened to Dinah Washington on a Saturday night, who kept me from dark thoughts.

Rockwell came to my life sick, something I wasn’t sure was my doing or if he was ill. No matter how much I fed him, he was shrinking. Some days I would hear vomiting, other days he would miss the litter box and my very first vet was not particularly helpful. Finally after losing faith in that vet, I was referred to a new vet in my neighborhood who was opening a practice and he made a house call as the vet location hadn’t yet opened. He was friendly to Rockwell but was honest with me: Rockwell had advanced lymphoma and the prognosis was grim. I remember being numb as he told me and we worked on a plan to get him to some semblance of ‘normal’ though what normal was extremely unclear. I asked him how long I had and when I would know when ‘it was time’, and he grimaced and said, “2 months,” and, “You’d know.”

I was surprised by how accurate that timetable would be. I did everything I could, administering meds, B-12 shots, baby food, calorie boosters, anti-nausea medicine, stool hardeners but nothing helped. My baby boy passed in my arms while at the vet on October 17, 2014. I don’t know if I’ve ever cried that hard in my entire life.

Rockwell was such an agreeable cat and best friend, and while his last year wasn’t the smoothest, I’d like to think I gave him a ton of love and a warm bed to sleep on.