We nearly missed you at Battersea Old Windsor. Beth spotted you, shivering and scared in your cabin. The staff were keen to find a good match for this family who had never owned a cat before. A first cat, a cat who had no special needs, who just needed a place to call home. You were just right. You needed some dental work doing, so you stayed in the care of Battersea while that happened. We came to visit you in your enclosure there, and you immediately favoured Drew.

在巴特西旧温莎，我们差点想念您。 贝丝发现了你，在你的小屋里瑟瑟发抖和害怕。 工作人员渴望为这个以前从未养过猫的家庭找到合适的食物。 第一只猫，没有特殊需要的猫，只需要一个家的地方。 你说的没错。 您需要做一些牙科工作，因此在发生这种情况时，您一直在巴特西（Battersea）的照顾下。 我们来到您的家中拜访您，您立即青睐了Drew。

When the day came to take you home, I signed the forms. One of the things I had to agree to was that you wouldn’t be a performing animal. This made us all laugh, as I explained that I already had a performing child, so the very last thing I needed was a performing cat! I also had to agree that if we couldn’t take care of you any more, I would bring you back to Battersea. You would always be a Battersea Cat.

带您回家的那天，我签署了表格。 我必须同意的一件事是，你不会成为表演动物。 正如我向我解释的那样，我已经有了一个表演孩子，这使我们所有人都笑了，所以我需要的最后一件事就是表演猫！ 我还必须同意，如果我们不能再照顾您，我将带您回到巴特西。 你永远是巴特西猫。

No-one knew your backstory, or even your real age. You had been brought into Battersea as a stray. The staff had given you the name Troy. With a little help from the internet we decided on the name Widget. As with all cats you soon had a multitude of nicknames, “Widgety Woo, the Ginger Ninja, Sir Widgealot”. That first day at home with us you scuttled behind the fish tank and hid. We had been warned that it might take several days, or even weeks, before you would sit with us. However that first night, as Drew and I sat quietly, you came out from your hiding place and sat between us.

没有人知道您的背景故事，甚至您的真实年龄。 您被流浪带入了巴特西。 工作人员给您起了特洛伊的名字。 在互联网的一点帮助下，我们决定使用Widget。 和所有的猫一样，您很快就有了很多昵称，“小Widget，姜忍者，维德加洛特爵士”。 与我们一起在家的第一天，您在鱼缸后面爬来爬去躲了起来。 我们被警告说，您可能需要几天甚至几周时间才能与我们坐在一起。 但是，在第一天晚上，当我和德鲁安静地坐着时，您从躲藏处出来，坐在我们之间。

You taught us about cats. Early on, Drew was out when Beth and I heard a crash from downstairs. We raced into the lounge, to discover you looking about twice your normal size, tail like a toilet brush. We were terrified, and had no idea what had happened to you. Neither of us knew that cat hair really would stand on end, as it does in the cartoons! Our best guess is that you laid eyes on another cat in the garden, rocketed into a chair leg causing the crash, and then paraded around trying to look as scary as possible to the interloper.

您教我们关于猫的知识。 早些时候，当Beth和我听到楼下的坠机声时，Drew不在。 我们冲进休息室，发现您看上去是正常大小的两倍，尾巴像马桶刷。 我们很害怕，不知道你发生了什么。 我们谁都不知道像动画片中的那样，猫的头发真的会竖立起来！ 最好的猜测是，您注视着花园中的另一只猫，猛撞到椅子腿上导致撞车，然后四处走动，试图让闯入者看起来尽可能的恐怖。

I had seen the staff at Battersea holding you up against their shoulder and I would pick you up and carry you like that. Beth would carry you about as if you were a baby, and you would reach up and put your paws on her face, “no paws on face, Widget!” It took a little while for Drew to confidently pick you up and carry you, however before long your favourite place to be was with your chin on his shoulder. And you loved Drew the best.

我已经看到巴特西的工作人员将您抱在他们的肩膀上，我会接您并像这样载着您。 贝丝（Beth）会像个婴儿一样把你抱起来，然后举起手来，将爪子放在她的脸上，“脸上没有爪子，小工具！” 德鲁（Drew）花了一些时间自信地接您并扶着您，但是不久之后，您最喜欢的地方就是您的下巴贴在他的肩膀上。 而您最爱Drew。

You were always a timid cat. You never went far, even in your younger days. You preferred to hang out with us, or to be in the garden with one of us close by. You hated the move to Bristol, and we felt so bad about taking you from the home you knew. However in time you established your routines here, although you were no fan of the Bristol seagulls which would occasionally stand on our shed and shout at you.

你一直都是胆小的猫。 即使在您年轻的时候，您也从未走过。 您希望与我们一起出去玩，或者与我们中的一个人一起在花园里。 您讨厌搬到布里斯托尔（Bristol），而将您带离您知道的家感到非常难过。 但是，尽管您不喜欢布里斯托尔的海鸥，但偶尔您会在我们的棚子里大喊大叫，但您还是在这里建立了自己的套路。

My “no cats on beds” rule eventually fell. I would find you sleeping next to Beth, your head on her pillow. As you became older, all you wanted to do was to be close to Drew. It seemed unfair to keep you out of the bedroom. So began a nightly event of you walking directly over my head in order to get close to your favourite person.

我的“禁止猫躺在床上”的规则最终落空了。 我会发现你在贝丝旁边睡觉，头在她的枕头上。 随着年龄的增长，您要做的就是与Drew保持亲密关系。 让您离开卧室似乎不公平。 因此，开始了一个夜间活动，您为了直接接近您最爱的人而直接走过我的头。

Working from home, you were always part of our day. You would stroll into our office, and I would pick you up for a cuddle. However, you would always look to Drew and sooner or later expect a cuddle from him, to rest your chin on his shoulder and purr. You would put your paws up on Drew’s lap to request picking up if he didn’t quickly comply with your cuddle requirements.

在家工作，您始终是我们这一天的一部分。 您会走进我们的办公室，我会抱抱您。 但是，您总是希望Drew早晚期望他抱抱，将您的下巴靠在他的肩膀上并发出pur叫声。 如果Drew不能很快满足您的拥抱要求，您可以将其爪子放在Drew的膝盖上，要求提起。

When I returned from a trip, I would look up the stairs to see you looking at me disapprovingly as if to say, “And where have you been this time?” I would then be ignored until the next morning, when you would behave as if you had just set eyes on me. Early mornings were our time together, your cue the coffee machine springing into life on its timer to make my 5am coffee. If I wasn’t already awake, I soon would find myself face to fuzzy face, as you would come to investigate why I was still in bed. You would follow me downstairs, and if I dared to put my laptop on my lap, you would nose under it until I moved it to make space for you. We spent our early mornings that way. Me answering email with my laptop perched on the arm of the sofa, you purring and sleeping on my knee.

当我从旅行中回来时，我会抬头看着楼梯，看到你不满意地看着我，好像在说：“ 这次你去哪里了？” 直到第二天早上，我都会被忽略，那时你的举止就像是盯着我一样。 清晨是我们在一起的时光，您会发现咖啡机在计时器上栩栩如生，使我的早上5点开始煮咖啡。 如果我还没有醒着，我很快就会发现自己面对模糊的面Kong，因为您将来调查为什么我仍然躺在床上。 您会在楼下跟着我，如果我不敢将笔记本电脑放在膝上，那么您会在它下面摸索，直到我移动它为您腾出空间。 我们以这种方式度过了清晨。 我用笔记本电脑坐在沙发的扶手上回答电子邮件，您发出呼pur的声音，睡在我的膝盖上。

Your last morning at home had started as usual, but the weather was warm and humid and you had hopped off my knee to sit beside me on the sofa. I went out to the gym, and when I came back you were sat at the top of the stairs, your chin on your paw. I snapped a photo with my phone, as you looked cute and serious. Minutes later you came down the stairs gasping for breath. Drew rushed you to the vets and then to the vet hospital, where they had you on oxygen while they ran tests to find out what had happened.

您在家里的最后一个早晨照常开始，但天气温暖潮湿，您跳下膝盖坐在沙发上坐在我旁边。 我去体育馆，当我回来时，你坐在楼梯的顶部，你的下巴就在你的爪子上。 当您看起来可爱又严肃时，我用手机拍了一张照片。 几分钟后，您下楼喘着粗气呼吸。 德鲁把你赶到兽医那里，然后又送到兽医医院，在他们进行测试以查明发生了什么事的时候，他们给了你氧气。

Worried, but still thinking the results would come back as a treatable infection or similar, I went to speak at an event in Scotland. Drew had planned to come along but stayed to be close to you. It became apparent that you were becoming increasingly poorly, and tests had shown there was nothing that could be done to give you back any quality of life. I will be forever grateful to the gentle kindness of the people of ScotlandCSS, who switched my talk to the first slot of the day so I was able to fly home, and be there for your final minutes.

我担心，但仍认为结果会以可治疗的感染或类似的方式恢复，我去了苏格兰的一次活动。 德鲁原本打算来，但要靠近你。 很明显，您变得越来越贫穷，测试表明，没有任何办法可以使您恢复生活质量。 我将永远感激苏格兰CSS协会成员的热情好客，他们将我的演讲切换到当天的第一个时段，因此我得以飞回家，并在那里度过了最后的几分钟。

You left our lives in a room not so different to the one we had collected you from, nine years ago. You were so obviously very poorly. The vet brought you to us, every breath was a struggle for you, yet all you wanted to do was cuddle into Drew, to rest your chin on his shoulder. I held you for a little while, but it seemed right that these last minutes should be spent exactly where you wanted to be. You wanted to be close to your special friend, your favourite.

您将我们的生活留在了一个房间，与我们九年前从那里收集您的房间没什么不同。 你显然很贫穷。 兽医把您带到我们这里，每一次呼吸都为您挣扎，但您要做的只是拥抱Drew，将下巴靠在他的肩膀上。 我抱了你一会儿，但是最后几分钟应该正确地呆在你想去的地方似乎是正确的。 您想与您的特别朋友最喜欢。

As Drew held you I signed the forms to allow this last goodbye, just as I had signed the forms which made you part of our family. The end was quick, and peaceful, with us talking to you and stroking you. A final kindness for our lovely friend.

在德鲁（Drew）抱着你的时候，我签署了表格以允许最后的告别，就像我签署了使你成为我们家庭成员的表格一样。 结束是快速，和平的，我们与您交谈并抚摸您。 对我们可爱的朋友最后的好意。

Widget, 18th July 2018. You were the best cat, and we loved you so very much. Sleep well friend.

小部件，2018年7月18日。你是最好的猫，我们非常爱你。 睡个好朋友。