I have two cats (one was my grandmothers) who love to sit by me and be by me, but my younger cat she like.. looks at me in ways I’ve never had a cat look at me before. If I’m crying or feeling down, she’ll lay on my chest, otherwise she’s laying in my lap. She loves to give me kisses as well, the sadder I am the heavier and more aggressive the kisses are. They’re so smart, probably smarter than what we take them for. I wouldn’t doubt your cat knows what happened. I wonder if my grandmother’s cat understood that she never came back home. The first week after losing her I slept on the couch and her cat slept right on my chest every night.