My head keeps saying you’re just a cat but somehow my heart can’t be convinced to hurt any less over losing you.
I remember the first time I saw you at the animal shelter 10 years ago…I was in college and I convinced my roommates that adopting you would be a great idea because, after all, you were just a cat and how much trouble could you be? I took you out of your cage and brought you into a little room so we could see if we’d make a good fit…you came over and rubbed up against my legs then did a few rolls on the floor and I knew you were the one for me.
When I moved into my new house this summer I was excited to have you with me…even though you were just a cat you made this house feel SO MUCH MORE like a home. The halls and rooms were never empty because there you’d be, napping in the sun or ‘hiding’ under the bed or waiting at the door for me when I came home.
People would see how big you were, all 17 pounds of handsomeness, and they’d joke that you weren’t just a cat but must be a strange breed of small dog! That only made me love you more.
I loved how you would wait on the front porch in the afternoon and when you saw me coming down the road, you’d run down the driveway to meet me with anticipation. When I was doing yard work or walking in the woods, you’d follow my just like a dog would even though you were just a cat. In fact, I still laugh when I think about the time that you chased a dog clear across the yard because even though you were just a cat, you weren’t afraid of anything!
Last January I thought I was going to lose you when I found out you had
diabetes. I cried and felt it was too soon. But, you stayed with me
for 11 more months and for that I will always be grateful. It was only
two weeks ago that I found out you had a brain tumor and only one week
ago that I had to let you go. That first night coming home to an empty
house was very difficult, especially because memories of you were everywhere. I cried for three days straight…
I KNOW that people have ‘real problems’
and lose ‘real people’ and have so much more to grieve but you were an
important and wonderful part of my life.
Sorry for your loss. I lost me dog last June, I got an email today from the state saying it was time to renew his licence and I started to cry. Our pets are part of our family and the pain and grief is very real, but I loved reading your post about your cat, he was very lucky to have found you.
Thanks for your kind words, Bonnie, and I'm sorry for your loss, too. I've lost other family pets throughout my life but losing Cooper has hit me particularly hard because he was my first pet on my own.