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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