CAT WHO LOVED ME, THE

This true story tells a journey of discovery and love between a hard-core cat phobic and a stubborn cat. Kuen Shan had an innate fear of cats. Her fear was intensified tenfold when a cat insisted on adopting her. This happened shortly after she and her husband moved from London to Wales. A stubborn cat had descended from Heaven and invaded her personal space at a time when she felt alone, isolated and unhappy. Healey was a Welsh farm cat. When his owner, Kuen Shan?s neighbour, moved away, Healey returned four times to the Welsh hillside where he was born and bred. Healey turned out to be a Chinese sage in disguise. Quietly, wisely and tenaciously he wormed his way into her home, her life and her heart. Together they embarked on a journey of discovery of friendship and love. On route there were fear, anger, rejections and near murder, all on the part of the woman, while the cat remained calm and dignified. They became firm friends. The cat showed the woman that cats know love and kindness, and they give a lot and take very little. His calm presence and devoted company helped her settle in the Welsh hills. Along the way Kuen Shan took on two kittens and she met many more cats. Each one taught her a bit more about cats. She studied them, painted them extensively and observed that cats demonstrate wisdom and wits not dissimilar to ancient Chinese ways of thinking. She and Healey walked his chosen path together for more than 12 years. Their journey ended when she had to put H to sleep, to end his suffering from terminal cancer. However her love of cat continues with Joseph, whom Healey had helped bring up from kittenhood. The journey with her cats had helped her transformation from a city person to a devoted country dweller. It had also unexpectedly thrown up childhood emotional issues which had laid dormant for decades. It had made her re-examine her difficult and traumatic relationship with her tough and domineering father.