Collectors
A cardboard box found in the backyard kickstarted this cat lover’s figurine collection
My 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 wonderful 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 consider 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 treasures, 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 delightful surprise for me, and inspired me to search out more at garage sales, church bazaars 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