Only A Cat?

Our family lost another cat today. On the surface that may not seem like much to others but it is a very important event for my family. Her name was Miss Kitty and she was a former stray that happened to show up on the heels of another loss many years ago. Miss Kitty was never much for snuggling but she was still very sweet once you got to know and understand her ground rules. Too much fear and neglect before she found us led her to be rather "definite" about having things her way, but again, she was really very sweet. She was also the last of our family's pets that my mother knew and had cared for before her own passing in February of 2001. I hope they are together with the rest of the family Miss Kitty ruled and terrorized while they were still together. Mom understands Miss Kitty and will make sure Heaven measures up and that no one neglects, abuses, or abandons her there. While my younger sister was in the hospital for her initial "induction" chemo for her leukemia, discovered in February of this year with the news delivered on the same date our mother died, Miss Kitty disappeared for two weeks. Since they live in the wilds of New Hampshire I think we all felt that Miss Kitty had probably gone to nourish some hungry coyote or fox kits, but she was discovered still very much alive six miles from the house and came immediately when she heard my nephew's voice. Several weeks later, Miss Kitty returned home after having been struck by a car - at least she had sustained a severe concussion - and had to spend a great deal of time closed up in the bathroom until she had recovered sufficiently to be out and about again. It is hard to accurately convey just how special Miss Kitty was, especially to my sister. Our dad and step-mother had decided they could not keep Miss Kitty and had taken her to a shelter that was begining to despair of ever finding her a home. She was re-rescued by Patty and her two kids just after the Christmas holidays and came home to her final family. My sister and Miss Kitty were kindred spirits and Miss Kitty would sit quietly with Patty for long periods of time - two injured souls finding true comfort in one anothers' affections. My sister, stuck in the hospital following her last chemo due to an infection, could not be there with Miss Kitty today. She has already mentioned not being able to say good-bye or being able to be there to comfort my nephew, who saw her death - accidental - beneath the wheels of our step-mother's car. I am hoping Miss Kitty - who was unusually prompt at getting away from running vehicles - was already gone before the accident occurred. I hope Miss Kitty has already been greeted by Mom and the others; Jasper, Edwin, Bambi, Autumna, Rose, Topper, and all of our family's other members that have gone before those of us remaining here, and is enjoying her special kind of kitty scritch, the kind she so definitely insisted upon and enjoyed so much. I will remember Miss Kitty's luxuriant fur, her beautifully complete black coloring and her stunning golden and green eyes. I will remember her gentle purr and grateful contentment at having been brought home by one of the daughters of the "house" that had been hers before her oddysey of homelessness began for a second time and I will always look for her whenever I am at Patty's house simply because that is where she, finally, belonged. I will try to be a comfort to Patty and the children, although my nephew is almost seventeen now. I will try to help them focus on forgiveness and the good things about a poor old pussycat they decided to bring home and love despite knowing that, as an official antique, she would perhaps not be with them very long. Soft pillows, warm hearts, and unending affection to you Miss Kitty. You were certainly loved and, just as certainly, will be missed so much more than you may ever know.