To my kitty...
During the week of the cage incident from the previous post (mind you all this mess took place within about 8 to 10 days) my cat Joe-Joe did what most elderly cats do and disappeared off to somewhere where they can die in peace. He was 17. We have been expecting him to die for years now, and now that it has actually happened its weird.
To come home and not having him tripping me so I would feed him.
To walk around my property and not have him trailing idly behind me about 10 or 15 feet.
To not hear his annoying meow through the air vents every night.
The property seems darker for some reason.
Piper appears saddened now that the being in which she felt obligated to protect is gone.
I pat her head and tell her it will be ok.
All I can do for her is try to get her a better home than here.
We can't love her the way she needs to be loved.
The only regret I will have to not finding him is that we won't be able to bury him next to his sister, Jennifer, who died mysteriously when I was about 5,6, or 7. I'm sorry that I can't do that for the both of them.
Even Michael (son of Daisy, Joe-Joe's other sister) seems to know his uncle is gone. I went over to the neighbors where 15 year old nephew, Michael, now resides, to ask them if they had seen Joe-Joe.
They weren't home
That's ok.
They didn't have to be.
Michael was sitting on their back patio, alone, watching me. I looked into the old black cat's eyes and he stared straight back at mine. I paused then crouched down and asked, "Have you seen your Uncle? Have you seen Joe-Joe?" The cat simply took a few steps toward me and rubbed his cheek into my hand almost as if he was trying to comfort me. It was all I needed. After hugging and petting my other cat, whom I had helped raise since he was three weeks old, I turned and walked back to the house and I'm yet to ask the neighbors since.
Joe-Joe was a cat who hardly ever left the safety of our garage let alone go off the property. So the fact that he did not return after 3 days told us what had happened.
I will miss him dearly.
The thing that scares me is I'm yet to cry for him.
I've been mourning for my childhood companion, yes.
But not crying.
I know he's in a better place and am happy for him.
But it doesn't take away the emptiness I feel when I peek out the door to see if he's sleeping comfortably in his bed under his heat lamp only to find the heat lamp turned off....the bed empty....
It breaks my heart every time.
I received Joe-Joe and Jennifer from my Grandparents' farm when I was three. I remember my parents opening the trunk of the car to find two terrified cats in a box full of cat dookie.
I knew then that these cats were amazing.
How I remember that day is beyond me
A few years went by and Jennifer vanished for 3 days, One rainy saturday I went looking for her.
I found her dead.
We have never found out how she died, she just did.
Joe-Joe was crushed.
It wasn't long after that fate had its own way of changing things.
Daisy, Joe-Joe's other sister, had died while trying to carry her four kittens across the road.
The kitten she was carrying died as well.
We took the other three in.
They were only three weeks old, two girls and a boy.
They brought Joe-Joe back to life.
He taught them how to hunt, live, groom, and snuggle.
Long story short, we ended with just Michael and Joe-Joe for many a year until a dog attack on Joe-Joe last February caused Michael to change his home to our neighbor's where he still resides with no intent on returning to us.
I shall miss my Joe-Joe
Good bye my gay-old-fart-kitty. I love you and miss you. See you at the rainbow bridge.
Love always,
Your loyal servant,
Lauren