I promise, I am telling you the honest truth. My cats, Bella and “P,” changed while I was gone so long.

“P” became my protector. When a nurse, PT, OT or another person came to help me heal, “P” would station himself squarely between me and that person. He’s been known to actually get inside that person’s medical bag.

But the one I want to tell you about is my little Bella.

When I left in a hurry for the hospital, she hid when anyone came in, even my family.

Well, she is hiding no more and pretty much demands her share of petting and love.

But still, that’s not the end of my story.

I have a chair that I almost always sit in. Before my illness and absence, neither cat sat there very often. They sat each in the two other chairs in my living room. But it’s the way Bella took over my chair in my absence.

Let me see if I can describe her pose. She jumps on the seat, turns around so that she is sitting, I swear, like a human.

She sits, head up, belly exposed. Then she drapes a front leg on the armrest and the other in her fat lap. Honestly, it could not look more like a human (me), propped back against the back of the chair.

Now, every time I’m not in my chair, Bella is, sitting for all the world like me, sans exposed belly.

I think it was her way to feel close to me during those hard days when everyone but me was feeding and loving them. If that is where she is posed in my chair, she does not run and hide when people come. I think she feels proud and safe, finally.

I am blessed to have my two cats to be my constant friends. I missed them so much every day while we were apart.

The view from the mountans is wondrous.

Jean Brody is a passionate animal lover and mother. She previously lived in Winchester, but now resides in Littleton, Colorado. Her column has appeared in the Sun for more than 25 years.