Guideposts – August 2019

58 GUIDEPOSTS (^) | August 2019
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MONICA MORRIS
Magnolia, Illinois
I
t was just after christmas,
and I was visiting Mom in her ram-
bling farmhouse outside Tiskilwa,
Illinois. Punkin, the family cat, was
resting on my dad’s old chair at the
kitchen table. I filled the sink with
soapy water for lunch dishes and
checked Punkin’s bowl on the floor.
Still full. He gazed up at me with lumi-
nous golden eyes.
I’m not going to eat until Bill comes
back, he seemed to say.
“You might as well eat, kitty. He’s not
coming home.” It broke my heart to say
it out loud.
Bill was my dad. Punkin had barely
COMFORT CAT Punkin helped Monica and her
family during a time of grief.