Lady Mabel, much loved, deeply missed and never to be forgotten
Lady Mabel took up residence with me in November 1988 at the age of 3 months. She was a delightful young creature.
Games she particularly enjoyed were, 'fetch the rolled up balls of newspaper', which she retrieved and brought to me, sometimes in the early hours of the morning and 'bag of chips'. This involved her being wrapped up in newspaper (broadsheet of course!) and fighting her way out, with much clawing and growling.
Mabel loved to help in the garden, doing her best to rid it of tiresome birds, frogs and earthworms and other dangerous creatures. She also liked to dig in fertiliser that she had prepared herself, for the benefit of plants.
As we moved around the country, she made many new friends whom she influenced for the good. Trinity Hall Boat Club in Cambridge and the City of Cambrige Rowing Club enjoyed the benefit of her coaching, especially in their nutritional guidance, providing many a curry or pizza when carbo-loading was needed before a big event. She was keen to offer advice and believed strongly in the necessity of keeping fluid levels up.
Pupils and staff at St John's College School in Cambridge were indebted to Mabel for her sound advice and unswerving friendship. She enjoyed the music of the choir so much that when we re-located to London, Mabel joined Wimbledon Choral Society. They benefitted hugely from her wisdom and experience.
Rumour has it that when they performed in the Royal British Legion's Festival of Remembrance, Her Majesty was so impressed by Mabel's performance that she invited her to tea at the Palace. Mabel's natural modesty prevented her from mentioning this to her friends, but it was noticed that she seemed to have acquired a gold sparkly collar at about that time.
The very glamourous Catherine and her husband Joe were two of Mabel's close friends. Catherine was even invited to assist with the move back to East Anglia - Mabel generously rewarded her that evening with a song and piano recital, the memory of which Catherine still treasures.
Ely proved to be a very happy move for Mabel. Here she fell deeply in love with Stuart,
who returned this love, moving into her home to take care of her as she became increasingly frail. Nothing gave Stuart more pleasure than to take her out for the evening to Cafe Centrale, where she would have a tempting little hors d'oeuvre before nibbling daintily at a sardine or two for her supper. Sometimes Audrey and Gil would call round for supper, bringing her a little treat or two as a sign of their appreciation.
On 24th May 2007 Stuart called Mabel in for her tea. As she came towards him across the lawn, she staggered and fell. She was unable to get up, so the lovely Audrey and Gil came round to help. John and I rushed to the scene. We gave her water from a dropper, which helped revive her a little and then took her to see the vet.
The very nice vet said she thought Mabel may have suffered a stroke. We waited for 24 hours for the results of tests and to see if a re-hydrating drip would give our dearest girl a chance of recovery. Sadly, the kindest thing was to send her gently into the next world, where she would be with her cousins Dusty, Wilma, Kevin and Twig. Annie, Stuart, John and I were with her as she made her final requests. John and I were there at the very end, with Stuart visiting her as she lay in state.
She is up there now with her lovely Grandad (Arthur) purring contentedly and running about, free from pain.
Tributes
Tributes have been flooding in from all over the world. MaPixi in Liverpool is understandably distraught. Adam in Australia is currently in denial about the news. Many others, too numerous to mention have sent messages of condolence, which Stuart and I find deeply touching
She would be thrilled to know that Cafe Centrale have named their beautiful garden room after her. It is of course very difficult to book a table there any sooner than 2008, but if you have a chance - do visit the Lady Mabel Suite, even if you can only be squeezed in for a morning coffee.
The Lady Mabel Bequeset
Lady Mabel supported a number of charities and has requested that this should continue after her sad demise.
Audrey took part in this event and Mabel was delighted to support her
A generous donation has been made to help abandoned and ill treated cats in Greece. http://www.hellastravels.co.uk/ - Mabel's favourite website
On 25th May each year biscuits will be provided for the staff of The King's School, Ely (Junior School), in recognition of the affection she inspired amongst many of her friends here.
A donation will be made to the Blue Cross Cats Home in Cambridge in recognition of their marvellous work.