More of Our Canada – July 2019

M

y love for cats goes way back to

when I was a boy living with my

mother in Amherstburg, Ont. A

neighbour’s cat would come to

visit us almost every day, and curl up in our

laps and purr like a diesel truck. Being an

only child without any friends, this won-

derful creature was a godsend for me, and

I vowed to one day get a kitty of my own

when I got older.

Fast forward 50 years to Walkerville,

Ont., a nice neighbourhood in Windsor,

where I am now living. I

have two adorable cats,

Popeye and Big Guy, both

of whom I rescued from

the streets and now con-

sider the loves of my life. One day when I

walked out of my building, I discovered

that someone had left a cardboard box in

my backyard, filled with cat-statue trea-

sures, each one lovingly wrapped up in

newspaper. I imagine it was someone who

couldn’t keep the collection anymore, for

whatever reason, and wanted the items to

go to a good home—someone who perhaps

knew of my affinity for cats.

In any event, the cat figurines were a de-

lightful surprise for me, and inspired me to

search out more at garage sales, church ba-

zaars and the like, and so the collection has

grown to include several more pieces of

which I am proud. As I get older though,

and with no one to leave the figurines to, I

am contemplating auctioning off the whole

collection so someone else might enjoy it

for a time. Or perhaps I’ll just leave it in the

backyard of someone who seems to like

cats, which worked out quite well the last

time the collection changed hands! n

SURPRISE

PACKAGE

A cardboard box found

in the backyard kick-

started this cat lover’s

figurine collection

by Donald Lugers, Windsor

For Donald,

collecting cat

figurines just

seemed to be a

natural extension

of his lifelong

love for felines.

COLLECTORS

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