Carmel and. Bobby Together Again Sue Blocher of Brookline, Massachusetts, will always remember that day in September 1977 when her son, Bobby, then four years old, came running up to her in the kitchen where she was busy baking oatmeal cookies and asked breathlessly, "Please, Mommy, oh, please! Can it sleep with me?" "Can what sleep with you? Big Bird? Kermit the Frog? Miss Piggy?" Bobby giggled. "No, Mommy, no! My kitty. Can my kitty sleep with me tonight?" Sue arched an eyebrow and wiped a piece of cookie dough off the edge of the bowl. "But, honey boy," she said, puzzled. "You don't have a kitty." "I do now, Mommy," Bobby replied confidently. "A pretty carmel-colored kitty, just like before. Daddy is bringing her home to me. I saw him buy it." Damn it! Sue's smile became more like a grimace. Bobby was always doing things like this to her. What did he mean, "a 'carmel-colored' kitty just like before"? And had he really seen Howard buying him a cat? Well, she would know the answer to the second question very soon. Her husband was due home from Boston a little after five P.M. Bobby went out to play, and Sue went back to her cookies. At 5:08, Edward Blocher pulled into their driveway with a kitten in the car. Neither Sue nor Edward had ever seen their son so elated. They were touched by his repeated tearful thank-you's, but bewildered by his triumphant shout, "Oh, yes! It's Bobby and Carmel -- together again!" In the next few weeks, boy and kitten were seldom apart. And they did sleep together every night. In December Gail, Bobby's baby sister, was born. Bobby and Carmel were at the door to greet her when Sue and Edward brought her home from the hospital. Gently nudging his Grandmother Linzer aside, Bobby beamed and said to his cat, "See, Carmel. Little Gail. Just like before." |
Edward and Sue exchanged puzzled glances, and later that evening, while they sat at the dinner table talking over the excitement of the day, Sue asked what Bobby had meant by saying, "Just like before." Bobby shrugged, moving the tip of a finger through a spot of gravy on his plate. "Like before. You know, like before when Carmel, Gail, and I were together." Edward laughed at his ever-imaginative son, but his mother- in-law glowered at them. "Such silly talk!" Grandmother Linzer said. "Susan, I've warned you before that you should not permit Robert to chat- ter on so about such nonsense." "Mother," Sue reminded the older woman, "Bobby won't be five for another six months. He's a little kid. Little kids sometimes say weird things." "You never did," her mother said with a sniff. "And remem- ber, as the twig is bent, so grows the branch." As they were preparing for bed, Sue, fatigued from the birth, asked her husband to pass her the baby chowder, rather than the powder, Edward teasingly reminded her that she never said "weird" things. Sue laughed. She agreed with her mother's observation that she had been a perfect child, then, turning serious, asked her husband what he made of Bobby's frequent references to "be- fore -- " first with Carmel and now with his new sister. "Maybe he had wanted a cat for so long and so badly that it seemed to him as though he had already had the cat when I finally did bring it to him, and maybe the same thing is true about Gail," Edward said. "Or maybe it's just what you said -- Kids say weird things.' Life proceeded on its normal, somewhat hectic course in the Blocher household. Edward received a promotion, and things became more comfortable and less chaotic. They still |
didn't have enough extra money to allow for more than an occasional night out, but Sue didn't mind, since she hated to leave her children in the care of a baby-sitter. As for Bobby and Carmel, Sue was convinced that boy and cat communicated on some level beyond the ordinary. At first she had worried that the light union between Bobby and Carmel would not allow an intruder, but her fears proved unwarranted. Both Bobby and Carmel appeared to adore baby Gail, and they played with her whenever Sue permitted it. It was just before Bobby's seventh birthday that Sue's and Edward's universe became quite a bit larger. At quarter to three in the morning, they were awakened by their son's loud weeping. They both ran to his room. "I don't want Carmel to die," he said between convulsive sobs. "I don't want her to die again!" The cat looked up at them from her nest in Bobby's bed- spread. Her large green eyes appeared to glow in the dim illumination from the Donald Duck night-light near the bed- room door, "Carmel is fine, Slugger," Edward said softly. "You were just having a bad dream." "No." Bobby shook his head. "Tomorrow I'll be seven. I don't want Carmel to die like before." "Bobby, what is this 'before' business again?" Sue asked. "Like before when the wolf tried to eat Gail! Carmel and I fought and fought to save her, but the wolf killed Carmel and nearly killed me!" Edward shook his head and laughed. "Wow! My man, what did you have for a snack before you went to bed? Whatever it was, you are never eating it again!" Sue stayed at Bobby's bedside, holding his hand until he went back to sleep. |
At 5:30, the Murchisons, the
Quateros, and the Fanellis would be bringing their children over for the party. In Sue's mind, everyone was accounted for, and her world was an orderly place. What she hadn't counted on was the large German shep- herd that had somehow entered their yard, "Shoo, you dog!" Sue heard her mother scolding. "You don't belong in here, you nasty thing! Get out. Shoo! Shoo!" Then, as Sue watched in horror through the kitchen win' dow, she saw the shepherd lunge at her mother. Grandmother Linzer screamed, stepped backward, and tripped over a picnic bench -- dropping baby Gail. Sue's mouth opened in a silent scream as her worst night-mare came to life -- and she seemed helpless to do anything to stop it. In absolute dread she watched the German shepherd moving toward Gail as if someone had thrown him a tasty chunk of meat. And then, from out of nowhere, Carmel flew at the big dog's muzzle, scratching, hissing, biting -- a veritable guardian angel with claws. And Bobby was there. Her beautiful, valiant, seven-year- old son was striking at the monstrous dog with the little red plastic baseball bat he had received on his sixth birthday. "Not like before! Not like before! Not like before!" Bobby chanted in rhythm with the stinging swats he delivered to the snarling dog that threatened his sister. Bobby's words from the night before echoed in Sue's brain: "We fought and fought to save her from the wolf!" Could it be true? Were Bobby and Carmel fighting the "wolf" all over again? "Bobby and Carmel together again!" |
The huge dog shook his head vigorously and sent Carmel flying against the side of the house. The cat was dazed from the blow, but she rolled to her feet and once again advanced on the intruder. Somehow Bobby had got astride the shepherd and was pull- ing the dog's ears with all his strength. The distraction was all Carmel needed. This time, she went for the giant's eyes. She was a demon out of Hell as well as a guardian angel. The German shepherd shook Bobby off, got the boy on his back, and tried to sink his fangs into Bobby's throat. Bobby cried out in pain as the dog's teeth tore pieces of flesh from his chest. Her master's screams brought a frenzied power to Carmel's attack. Mercilessly she sank her claws into the dog's left eye. Emitting terrible yowls of pain, the shepherd tried desper- ately to shake the screaming cat from its face. By the time Carmel had once again been thrown against a wall, Sue was there with an iron frying pan. As if Carmel's feline fighting spirit had possessed her, she struck at the big dog's head again and again. The German shepherd was dazed and barely alive when he staggered from the Blochers' yard. Within the hour, an animal control unit had the dog in custody. Bobby missed his birthday party. He had to have some stitches and a few shots. Carmel had a broken back leg that had to be set between splints. Baby Gail and Grandmother Linzer were unharmed. And as Bobby said as he hugged his cat on the way home from the veterinarian, "Bobby and Carmel--together again!" Neither Sue nor Edward asked what he meant. Whether their son had some memory of a past life or had experienced a kind of premonition, it really didn't matter. They only knew for certain that love -- whether between human beings or be- tween human beings and animals lasts forever. |
| Cats Incredible! Brad Steiger |
One day at work I was on my way to the Xerox copier and
I passed by the engineering department. The area was open and
I could see the employees busy at work at their benches. One
man was standing by his drawing board. I saw movement out of
the corner of my eye and glanced at the man's legs. Before
my surprised eyes I saw a two-dimensional grey cat materialize,
leap up and rub himself against the man's legs, drop down
and then vanish. I stood there for a moment wondering if I
were hallucinating. Well, there was one way to find out.
I approached the man and said, "Excuse me, but do you own a
grey cat? One that is pure grey?"
He turned his attention to me and said, "Not any more,
but I used to have a pure grey cat. He was ran over by a car
two weeks ago, "
I was stunned, my next words just came out of my mouth.
"Well, I just saw your cat. He was here only a moment
ago, rubbing against your leg. I saw him materialize, and
I saw him vanish."
He smiled ruefully at me.
"You know, I believe you. I've often thought my pet
was near by. Thank you for telling me," he replied.
So, as far as I an concerned, animals have souls too.
How can I believe otherwise? and all souls, whether human or
animal, survive death as spirits. I have my own proof now.
Mary Seiler Pahrump, NV 1993 |
"In the corner of the room, I saw Frank, Chuckle and Rip walking with God. (Frank was her deceased husband, Chuckie was her murdered nephew and Rip was her deceased dog.) They looked the same as they did at the time of their deaths." (She further states, she did not see God, but "just knew" the three were walking with Him.) (From the files of the St. Louis chapter of International Association for Near Death Studies) Ellen Heim, NDE experiencer |