Several years ago, I was deploying¹ overseas² so I decided³ to leave my black cat Larry with my mother.

几年前，我要被调配到海外工作，所以我决定把我的黑猫拉瑞托付给我妈。

It was hard. Because I love my cat so much. I couldn't imagine living without him.

这真的很难。因为我太爱我的猫了。我没有办法想象没有他在身边的日子。

But I had to do that.

但我必须那么做。

Plus, my mother had been feeling alone lately, and I hoped he would change that.

另外，当时我妈挺孤独的，所以我希望拉瑞能够带来一点改变。

Those days were difficult, because Larry was already like a son to me.

那段时间真的很艰难，因为拉瑞对我来说已经像个儿子一样了。

I asked mother to share video of Larry online as frequently⁴ as possible.

我让我妈尽可能地多在网上分享一些拉瑞的视频。

After two years, I was ready to get him back.

2年之后，我已经准备好把他接回来了。

Before I could do that, I got a call from my mother.

但在我这么做之前，我却接到了妈妈的一通电话。

She said she had fallen asleep earlier and woke up to him on her chest⁵, meowing and pushing her face.

她说她本来睡着了，但却被拉瑞弄醒了，他坐在我妈胸口上，不停地喵喵叫、不停地推她的脸。

He had never done that before.

他以前从来没有这么干过。

She smelled something funny, jumped out of bed, and found the kitchen on fire.

而这时我妈闻到了奇怪的味道，她急忙跳下床，然后发现厨房已经着火了。

Oh God, my mom is alive because of Larry. He had been protecting us in his way. He really sees us as his family.

天啊，我妈能活下来完全是因为拉瑞。原来他一直在用他的方式保护着我们。他真的把我们当成了他的家人。

I guess this is what love is. It doesn't matter whether you are a human or a cat. You give love and you get love.

我猜这就是爱的本质吧。不管你是人还是猫，都是如此。你付出爱，就会收获爱。

And I know that Larry loves us, just like we love him.

而我知道拉瑞是爱我们的，就像我们爱他一样。

Oh, by the way, he’s my mother's now. She just couldn't leave Larry after that.

啊，对了，他现在已经是我妈的了。自从那件事以后，我妈就离不开拉瑞了。

And I'm totally OK with it.

而我完全不介意。