Coal.

The Artist, Vintage Lady & The Pussy Cat.

A Real-Life Autistic Insight & Thought Process.

Stuart is my friend. I would say, you are lovely to deal with.

Which is an absolute compliment & credit to how he conducts himself.

He has Autism and Arrested Brain Development or as it is now called (ASD) Autistic Brain Disorder and Sound Sensory Processing Disorder. He is deaf in one ear, so painting helps him to take the edge off his stress, even though he says “I’m not a good painter”, but I look to others from the past and present on youtube and he is an exceptional talent.

This is his short story he wanted me to edit & share;

In the nursing home where I work for a few hours, I let the clients paint what they want and it is a beautiful thing to give someone that ability to paint and enjoy. You are helping me give joy to the residents where I work for free to enjoy their work and we hang them up for all to see.

A sad moment happened just last week which stirred me to get more paint.

A resident died not of COVID-19 but in a letter, she expressed her sincere thanks in all that expressed all that was in her to my personal care, genuine friendship in a handwritten note which made a few of us careers come to tears, it was read out at her funeral, it just shows how the truth brings us to tears with heartfelt words that were read out at her funeral.

I don’t smoke, take drugs of any kind, I love nature, the sound of a bird singing in the evening while reading a book to the enjoyment of the evening air coming while reading a good book.

Anyway going off-topic, I was thanked for bringing back the love of her life, painting, even though I thought nothing of it, the joy it brought her, I never knew it would.

This act of kindness was her favorite hobby, I never knew that it was one human to another that did it, and yes I’m crying as I write this, that human bond, the joy of friendship developed over time, they are not old people, but human beings @ Leonard Cheshire in Old Colwyn in

Wales.

Finishing the painting was the best part. Mission Accomplished.

An unexpected long hug, so please remember, that those in the nursing homes are still Human Beings, she* (Names have been left out).

They are still in there and the act of kindness was passed around her family to all say Thankyou and a Blessing during her last very few moments on Earth.

To give someone a gift is to receive. As Jesus once said, There is more happiness in giving, then there is in receiving. (New World Translation; (Acts 20 Verse 35) I made a friend whom I wanted to be with me forever. Not as lovers but as true friendship.

That is all it takes. “You are like a son to me”, she said. Those words still whisper in my ear. How lovely. It made my day, weeks, months, and I can still hear her words today in my ear as if it was yesterday. Respect and trust in earned a lot these days.

Although I must admit I miss her very much. A picture on my fireplace and ever year I light a candle and have two minutes’ silence.

Just before she died she raised her hands up to me in pain as good as she could and said into my ear, close up, “Thank you for everything you’ve done themselves last few months, you’ve been a son to me, a tear rolled down my face, she slowly wiped it away asking, “Why are you crying, my son?” With a moment’s silence, I said to her, “You have a beautiful soul, heart and mind and the many months, I have spent with her have been memorable, and I told her she (By Name) was in my heart, like a mother to a son, the bond was so great, it was a joy to get to know her, not knowing the love I’d get out of this.

The truth brings us to tears and she loved me reading Woman’s Own Magazines, we had some laughs, I showed her pictured of my cat, she instantly remembered her’s, “Coal” so beautiful at that moment, chatting our pets, she could remember so much.

I showed her pictures of my cat and after asking her daughter of her cat, “Coal” was proudly shown to me and introduced.

Laughing she used to say Coal would nick socks from one of the houses a few doors down. I never got upset, just laughed at the moment that she had a way with socks, of course, there was always a happy ending, the sockets were always washed and dried on the line and she said I always did the right thing by knocking on people’s door down the street. “ I always got a smile and a Thankyou which was nice. It was my deed done for the day she said. I never shouted at the cat; He’d been the perfect house cat for many years to come the garden and “Coal” had had a good life till the end slowing down, eating less, just watching the birds whilst lying down in the hot sun.

I’d always have cold water for her and treats for her but in the end, she wasn’t really bothered. One evening I was drinking tea from a tea cozy as was watching her from the kitchen table. “Coal’s” back legs had been going for months, nothing that the vets could do. I took her home with me and in less than a month I helped her as long as I could, carrying outstanding, to indoor litter boxes, I refused to let that blue stuff from the Vet be injected into her veins.

In my eyes she was still alive, she was still earring very little but drinking water very well which the vet said all pets drink a lot of water before they go. Back in January after the new year, I personally decided to keep her indoors.

When she wanted the toilet she looked at me and looked at the open box. I’d always had a helping hand called Nancy in helping me with my “Coal” and various other jobs. “Coal” was getting worse I could tell but I still refused the vets, that horrible blue stuff that puts them to sleep.

It was my one true fear. People were asking me to get her done as it was unfair to let an animal go like this, but I refused to let her go, she had been my baby from the start after the kids left home, she was all I had, she was still my baby.

Finally, in late June 2018, things had taken a thing’s for the worst, “Coal” was really showing signs of suffering really badly, weeks beforehand she was suffering, the vet was not an option for me by this time, I put a warm, soft wool blanket on my bed with me as always, with her looking up at me, every few minutes, I sat with her stroking her and all the memories came running through, the good times, the joy she brought me through the years, the treats, fake houses and cat-nip toys.

It was lovely to remember all the joy she brought me through the years.

Finally, after two long nights staying up late and three days of staying up late, “Coal” passed away on, I knew it was her time. I was stroking her dipping my fingers in the water bowl so she could lick them.

Well before that time I had stopped all treated a month or two before as she was no longer eating then. Food was no longer a substitute for her but I found a few soft treats, even those didn’t last, she finally gave up on her own accord and refused to eat or drink.after speaking to a friend who had cats for a long long time she said, that they know when their time is up.

Some cats go off to find a spot to wait for death but for house cats it was different, they choose a hiding place, so I opened the shoe cupboard, had a good tidy round and found an old woolly winter jumper in a box big enough for her to slowly get into.

I left treats, dry food, and water and sat there with her. In the early evening, “Coal” passed away in my arms.

She hugged me as a “Thankyou” and within minutes she passed away peacefully in my arms, tears fall out down my face like rain as I write this. It seemed the longest two nights of my life.

Even after just after 5:44 pm I lit a candle, said a prayer, and held a two minutes silence for “Coal”. It may not mean anything to some people, but we made some great memories.

I will always have them. R.I.P Coal your fire still burns in my heart, like the red heart intensity of Earth’s red giant that gives us heat.

Stuart Jones.

Thank you for taking your time and reading this.

You may not fully understand or make sense of the story above.

That fact Stuart has written & thought about all this and then asked me to edit and format it means so much to me.

I have no words.

Brian Anthony Cumberlidge.