Allen Meyer, Nederland. “She’s alive? Oh my gosh, I can’t believe it! She’s alive!”

Bob’s voice leapt out of the phone with joy and surprise. He’d thought his treasure, his black and white cat, Sam, was gone, was dead.  

But she wasn’t and he was incredibly relieved and happy.

Bob Foss was truly a sweet man, quiet and reserved, though not distant. He was always listening to and thinking about what was being said, what was going on. He would occasionally chuckle at something said, and maybe make a pointed comment, then lean into the table on his elbow again, alert and ready to throw another soft zinger.

After his wife Jean died, his quiet nature was more present, he’d chuckle less often. Sometimes when he’d stop by our house and come in for tea and conversation or come over for dinner, he would grow sad and talk about how much he missed Jean. He’d say, for instance, “She was the smartest person I ever knew.”  Then grow very quiet.

After Jean passed, what seemed to comfort him was his cat, Sam, named after the character Samantha in the TV show Foyle’s War. Sam was there when Jean died and was always there for Bob. He doted on her, making sure she had the right food, that a neighbor was there every day when he was away.

Sometimes I’d drop by his house and find him dozing in a chair with Sam curled on his chest, both lost in contentment. He had Danielle, a local artist, draw Sam’s portrait. When he’d talk about Sam his face lit up and he became quite animated with stories about how she got out and was really glad to get her back in, as he was so afraid of losing her.  

For him losing her was another loss he could not bear. One day he called for help, his voice urgent and fearful. He said he had left home very upset and convinced that Sam had been eaten by a bobcat. And now he was having other thoughts, and could I go to his place and check.

She had been outside with him as he did different things, and she had gone under the deck outside his door. He’d searched for her and thought he’d seen tracks of a wild animal coming out from under the deck. He was truly distraught she’d been carried away and killed.

While at his place searching for Sam, calling for her and looking for tracks or blood, I heard a soft meow toward several of his outbuildings.  

Soon the meow turned out to be from Sam, trapped in one of his buildings after presumably following Bob in but not out.

Taking Sam into the house, I called Bob. He answered and I said, “She’s alive, Sam’s alive,” and Bob answered with his joy and astonishment, “She’s alive!”

At that moment I believed Bob was filled with total happiness, perhaps something he hadn’t felt for some time.

Allen Meyer, a retired physician, was Bob and Jean Foss’s closest neighbor in Coughlin Meadows. Allen and his wife, Kathy, still reside there. 

(Originally published in the October 1, 2020, edition of The Mountain-Ear.)