…and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.”
Dear Graham,
In December 2019 I picked you up from the rescue. They told me you’d had a rocky past, but we had high hopes for your future. You purred all the way home and upon arrival, you sauntered out of the carrier and into my house like you belonged here. Your antics won over anyone who met you. Your face and your chonkitude earned you a small but loyal social media following of people who never even met you in person!
3 months after adopting you, I lost my best friend of 35 years. A month later, the pandemic hit. So it was you and me, buddy. We were each other’s family. We didn’t even really see anyone else for over a year. You made me laugh every. single. day. Literally every day! It was like living with a real live cartoon. Walking around the corner and catching you in the bathtub… Seeing you scamper like a bunny when crunchies were poured… looking down from my laptop to see you watching… waiting… plotting revenge on any/all electronic devices. Even now as I write this, I still feel like you are here tapping your proverbial paw, saying, “Ahem, lady, I believe there is lap space available. DROP THE LAPTOP or I’m coming up there to handle it myself.”
Several months ago, things changed for you. It was small at first… and then it got bigger. We consulted with many professionals. We tried everything. Your quality of life slowly started to decline. We held on for as long as we could.
Yesterday we said good-bye. Actually we spent about 2 days saying good-bye, and for that I am forever grateful. I smothered you with kisses, and you slept right beside me for hours on end. You got ALL of the crunchies your heart desired. I am honored that I could be with you and help you to be at peace.
I wish we could have taken you to therapy and you could have talked about everything in your past. I wish the people who originally owned you hadn’t been such jerks.
You were with me for almost 3 years. But I think… I hope… that those almost 3 years were the best you ever had. I hope I gave you a safe and peaceful home and that you knew how much I loved you.
I always said that I was not your mom, I was The Lady, because I adopted you so late. It seemed like we were more like besties than we were cat-mom and cat-son.
But in the end I became more than just The Lady. As I cradled you and told you everything was gonna be okay, I realized in that moment that our bond was deeper and that somehow, some way… we became more.
I am honored to now say that I am more than just The Lady. I am your cat-mom.
And what a gift. What an amazing gift for you to have been my boy. It hurts like a bitch to wake up today and for you not to be here. But I know that now you are at peace. No more suffering. Just rest.
Love you always my sweet, sweet boy,
-Mom
