Il y a trois mois environ, j'ai perdu un gros morceau de mon enfance. J'ai perdu ma meilleure amie, l'amour de ma vie, ma petite sœur de poils, mon compagnon de toujours.
9 ans (on passera sur le couvre-lit du plus blon goût, n'est-ce pas) - Age 9 (let's not talk about the very tasteful bedlinen)
Maman avait bien essayé de me préparer à l'inévitable depuis plusieurs années, le temps passant, la vieillesse, le cycle de la vie, tout ça, tout ça. Mais finalement, quand le moment fatidique est arrivé, rien n'aurait pu me préparer à la douleur intense que j'ai ressentie, aux nuits sans sommeil qui ont suivi et aux larmes qui n'arrêtaient pas de couler.
16 ans - Ma photo préférée - Age 16 - My favourite photo of her
Il y a aussi tous ces souvenirs qui se sont bousculés dans ma tête, les soirées d'hiver étendues de tout son long sur le radiateur brûlant, les réveils très matinaux, les deux cicatrices sur mon épaule gauche qui sont toujours visibles après 20 ans, les souris déchiquetées sur la terrasse, les bagarres sanglantes avec les chats du quartier, les nuits passées enroulées autour de ma tête sur mon oreiller, le jour où je lui ai fait porté des chaussons pour bébé, les lapins chipés à l'élevage d'à côté, sa façon de regarder à droite et à gauche avant de traverser, de s'allonger sur mon ventre le matin et de m'observer me réveiller, les mille et unes pirouettes que mon frère lui faisait subir et qu'elle adorait, le bruit de la cuillère qui tape sur la gamelle pour la faire rentrer le soir, les matins où elle buvait mon chocolat chaud dès que j'avais le dos tourné, son port de reine et la façon dont elle portait si bien son nom, Cléopâtre, sa haine avérée de tous les animaux de la planète et la façon dont elle terrorisait même les plus gros chiens, les boules du sapin de Noël qu'elle faisait valdinguer...
17 ans / Age 17
C'est l'histoire de la vie, Cléo, mais tu resteras l'une des plus belles choses qui me soit arrivées, le rayon de soleil qui a brillé sur toute mon enfance, le plus beau cadeau qu'il m'ait été donné de recevoir. Tu aurais eu 23 ans aujourd'hui et puisque je n'arrive toujours pas à accepter que tu soies partie, j'espère que quelque part dans un coin du paradis des chats, tu es en train de fêter ça avec un délicieux cocktail de crevettes, tes préférées !
19 ans, dans sa position préférée / Age 19 in her favourite position
About three months ago, I lost a very big part of my childhood. I lost my best friend, the love of my life, my furry little sister, my all-time buddy.
Mum had tried to prepare for the inevitable for a few years, the passing of time, ageing, the cycle of life and all. But in the end, nothing could have prepared for the intense pain I experienced, the sleepless nights that followed and the tears that simply would not stop.
There were also all these memories that rushed in my head, the winter evenings spent stretched on the boiling heater, the very early wake-up calls, the two scars I have on my left shoulder that are still visible after 20 years, the dismembered mice on the terrace, the bloody fights with the cats of the neighbourhood, the nights spent curled up around my head on my pillow, the day I made her wear baby slippers, the rabbits she stole from next’s door farm, the way she looked left and right before crossing, the way she laid on my stomach and observed me as I woke up, the thousands of rollercoaster rides my brother made her go through and that she loved, the sound of the spoon hitting her bowl as a way to make her come home at night, the mornings when she drank my hot chocolate behind my back, the way she carried herself like a queen, true to her name, Cleopatra, her hatred of all animals of this world and the way she terrorised even the biggest dogs, the Christmas decorations on the tree she loved tapping...
It’s the cycle of life, Cléo, but you will always remain one of the best things that have happened to me in life, the ray of sunshine that shone over my entire childhood, the most wonderful present I was ever given. You would have turned 23 today and since I still can’t accept you’re gone, I just hope that somewhere in a corner of cat heaven, you are celebrating it with a shrimp cocktail, your favourite!
Mum had tried to prepare for the inevitable for a few years, the passing of time, ageing, the cycle of life and all. But in the end, nothing could have prepared for the intense pain I experienced, the sleepless nights that followed and the tears that simply would not stop.
There were also all these memories that rushed in my head, the winter evenings spent stretched on the boiling heater, the very early wake-up calls, the two scars I have on my left shoulder that are still visible after 20 years, the dismembered mice on the terrace, the bloody fights with the cats of the neighbourhood, the nights spent curled up around my head on my pillow, the day I made her wear baby slippers, the rabbits she stole from next’s door farm, the way she looked left and right before crossing, the way she laid on my stomach and observed me as I woke up, the thousands of rollercoaster rides my brother made her go through and that she loved, the sound of the spoon hitting her bowl as a way to make her come home at night, the mornings when she drank my hot chocolate behind my back, the way she carried herself like a queen, true to her name, Cleopatra, her hatred of all animals of this world and the way she terrorised even the biggest dogs, the Christmas decorations on the tree she loved tapping...
It’s the cycle of life, Cléo, but you will always remain one of the best things that have happened to me in life, the ray of sunshine that shone over my entire childhood, the most wonderful present I was ever given. You would have turned 23 today and since I still can’t accept you’re gone, I just hope that somewhere in a corner of cat heaven, you are celebrating it with a shrimp cocktail, your favourite!
