Harvey-Ritz Wickham Dewey
June 1, 1983 to April 21, 2001
The Circle of Love
April 22, 2001 Our beautiful Harvey-Ritz Wickham Dewey passed away at 4:05am yesterday
morning (April 21), laying in Debbie's arms with Paul at his side. Harvey would have
turned 18 years old in June. The stress of a severe upper respiratory infection pushed him
into apparent kidney failure. He was resting and seemed to be at peace when he left this
world.
Summoning up the strength to compose a fitting tribute to my dear departed Nellie
just 30 days ago was extremely hard. Now, I find myself struggling with the loss of our
oldest yet newest family member, Harvey.
A Guardian Angel has been watching over Harvey-Ritz. His original human guardian,
Mrs. Betty Wickham, had named him Ritz. She went to visit her son in Colorado, and left
a friend to care for the two cats she loved so dearly, Ritz and Nibby. It was to be only for
several days. Sadly, she suffered a stroke. The cats need new homes. It was no problem
for Nibby. Ritz had a questionable future. The people in charge of finding homes for
these two cats felt he was too old and too mean to find a home. Euthanasia was discussed
as the only possible option. As soon as I heard this, without hesitation I told them we
would adopt Ritz. They warned of his ill temper and age. No matter, I said. With ten
cats we could easily make room in our home and our heart for one more older cat. With
that, we adopted Ritz sight unseen. Deep down inside I had always wanted a white kitty,
and suddenly there came Ritz. Pure white. An Angel sent to me.
Ritz came home with us on Leap Day, February 29, 2000. It was then he earned his
new name, Harvey-Ritz. He was a love right from the start if one ignored the "Tough
Guy" front he presented. It took him a good six months to learn he could longer be the
King of the House. His ten brothers and sisters were his equal, now. It really wasn't until
just a few months ago that 99% of his hissing and growling stopped.
Harvey had his share of medical oddities. From a large cyst he had carried on his lip
for his first 17 years, to his sixth bad teeth extracted at the same time we had the cyst
removed, to a rare and near-fatal case of air bubbles under is skin via a hole in his trachea,
to his scratched eye which subsequently ruptured but nearly 100% healed. Over the
course of his short stay in our family Harvey had the honors or more trips to the vet than
any other of our cats this past year.
Now, he's gone. Through it all and right up until the end, Harvey-Ritz was our Tough
Guy. He had all these problems thrown at him and he survived all but the very last.
Under that thick, tough guy skin, however, was a soft heart of gold. Harv was with our
family just 416 days but it's been some of the best 416 days of my life. I could not have
imagined it any other way.
As I spent the last full day with Harvey this past Friday, I had plenty of time to reflect
on his life, my life and what I see as the Circle of Love:
We lost our Sunshine in December 1996 and I though my life was over. Just a few
days later, and sign was sent to us in the form of a newspaper article about homeless cats.
My Circle of Love was born at that very moment. My love for Sunshine now carried over
into realizing my true purpose in life: helping the cats that cannot help themselves. We
adopted Roxanne Elizabeth a few weeks later. The Circle of Love continued.
As our cats grew older, we found they had special needs. Over the course of time, we
designed and built and developed special things to care for these needs. Little did I know
at the time this was the beginning of what was to become our This Old Cat business, and
the Circle of Love continued. We lost our Lucy and Simon just 7 weeks apart in late
1997. Weeks later, just after Christmas, a pair of 14 year old littermates, Nel and Pip,
came into the Dewey house. The Circle of Love continued.
The following summer of 1998, on a Friday we officially opened ThisOldCat.com. On
Saturday, we suddenly lost our first and oldest, Charlie Brown. On Monday, that Circle
of Love continued as I started my new dream job at the cat shelter. I had fallen in love
with two cats at the shelter and it wasn't long. First Opie came home, and then Slate. We
made it through 1999 and into the new century without losing a cat. My passion for
helping the homeless cats deepened. Harvey-Ritz joined our brood in February. The
Circle of Love continued.
Late in the year, Foster, Nelson and Isis joined our family. We suddenly became
better and stronger, and more focused than ever and our two latest efforts towards helping
the cats we all love arose: our Pet Detectives business and our Sunshine Home. Yes, the
Circle of Love continued!
We felt so blessed that we were able to go another year and into 2001 and the new
millennium and again, our family was intact. Sadly, Harvey-Ritz' first mommy, Betty
Wickham, passed away in January of 2001. I had planned on attending her memorial
service in February when our Nellie "crashed". Then Debbie's stepfather passed away.
Then Nel. The strength and the power of the Circle of Love was put to the test... but it
continued on.
That brings us back to Harvey-Ritz and the past few days. I left him briefly on Friday
to meet with the local zoning officer... our first meeting to begin construction of our
Sunshine Home. It was a very special day. When I returned, I told Harvey all about it.
We spent the entire afternoon together.
Sitting there on the floor I was reading the paper as Harvey slept beside me. It was
about 3:30pm. Out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw Harvey get up. It was a white
flash that appeared to come from where Harvey lay sleeping and rise up a few feet, then
dissipate into the air. It was gone in a matter of a second or so before I could even turn
my head. I turned to see Harvey still sleeping. I cannot explain the feeling of warmth and
peacefulness that suddenly overcame me. Just as quickly as it all started, the moment was
gone. I've been reliving that moment in my head over and over again. No one can say
whether it was Harvey's spirit going free, or his way on letting me know all was okay, or
what. All I know is that it was a very moving moment and it was at that point I realized
Harvey's time on this Earth would soon end. Indeed, less than 12 hours later any pain and
suffering that he may have endured was over. On the day our Sunshine Home was
formally begun, Harvey's spirit and soul would be set free. The Circle of Love
continued.
We buried Harvey at 5pm Saturday in the side yard along side Nel under warm but
rainy skies (he and Nellie will both soon be moved to their final resting place at Rush
Interpet Cemetery). Only minutes after returning him to the Earth, yesterday, our local
Pennysaver arrived. In it was our very first advertisement for our Pet Detectives
business. The Circle of Love unquestionably continues....
I miss Harvey-Ritz so much. I miss his "clacking" at mealtime when he would lick his
lips and clack his jaw in anticipation of the yummies. I miss his toughness. I miss his
warmth and love. I miss his survivor instincts and his beautiful face and eyes. A big piece
of me definitely went with his soul... but he left a large piece of himself in my mind and in
my heart.... because my beloved Harvey-Ritz knew, the Circle of Love must
continue....
Peace be with you, Harv.
Our Angels are now at Rush Inter Pet Cemetery
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