Remembering Barney & Fluffy

WELCOME to an all-new weekend of blogging ! Tomorrow I’ll present a very special Good Friday post, and then on Easter Sunday my 4-part sermon titled “Faces & Heels” concludes. I’ll end the weekend on Monday with my brand new Top 10 music chart.

This weekend I’m remembering Barney and Fluffy. They passed on during this same week of April 5 years apart in 2001 (Fluffy) and 2006 (Barney). They were the childhood cats of me and my brother (8 years younger than me), but I should clarify that a bit.

We found Fluffy (a Manx) outside on our elevated backyard patio deck on a bitter cold and icy Northern Virginia morning on the 23RD of December of 1983. We brought her in, gave her some milk to drink, loved on her, and then she refused to leave ! She remained with us (our family) for over 17 years – until 2001 – long after me and my brother had become adults and moved on with our respective lives.

Barney arrived on the scene about 4½ years later in 1988 while I was living here in Homestead Florida (where I’m still living today). My brother was still living at home. I’m not sure where exactly we got Barney, but it may have been from a coworker of our Mom. Barney remained with our family for about 18 years – until 2006.

Both cats lived long, fat, and happy lives in comfort. Fluffy was the most lovable feline I have ever known in my entire life. I had never heard a purr in my life until I heard it from her. Barney was simply “the cat that didn’t like me” – although during his last year (of perhaps senility) he came over to me and purred on me as if to ask me for my forgiveness for all of those years in which he didn’t care for me. Barney loved my brother more than anyone else. Fluffy loved me more than anyone else.

During Fluffy’s later years – even though I was gone for many months at a time – the instant that I returned for a visit was the same instant that she would come to life and erupt into continuous meows of joy, loud uninterrupted purrs, and frequent head, body, and tail bumps.

Here are some classic photos of Barney and Fluffy. The first one has a date imprinted on the back of it of ‘APR 89’; however, I suspect that the photo was actually taken around Christmas-time of 1988. That would make Fluffy about 5½ to 6 years old and Barney less than a year old. The second photo was taken several years later well into the 1990s. Same wall and location – different couch – fatter felines.