Losing Gracie my Kitty

12/29/2008

Dear friend and casual reader,

How do you chose a sad story to write here at Christmas, a joyous time? It is not easy! My sweet kitty of almost 14 years choses to pass away while Karen and I are away Christmas week. I guess that was her way of not letting us see her in her last days.

Our neighbors were checking on her and she was fine for several days. And she was fine when we left Saturday 12/20, fisty, playful and loving as usual. Nothing to indicate to us she might be sick or having any problems we might address early on.

After several days she ate and drank fine with Matt and Lynda replacing her water and food every other day. Then Christmas afternoon, they went to check on her and only then did they notice she had not eaten or drank any water since their last visit. This caused concern and they went looking for her.

Lynda opened the doorway into the hallway, and Gracie looked like she was sleeping at the top of the stairs. But something was obviously wrong. Gracie usually rouses at the earliest sound and makes herself invisible giving her the nickname "shadow"! But Gracie had gone! Lynda tried to rouse her but she had died.

Lynda called me in Hickory telling me the bad news. She said it looked like she curled up next to the heat vent to stay warm and passed away in her sleep. I can only hope and pray that was the peaceful way to go.

Now my house is lonely and quiet without my constant companion of the last 14 years. In cat years, she would be just over 70 but I really expected to have her a few more. But only He knows how long we all may be here and He chose to take her while we were away.

We will miss her and her little nesting places and favorites are constant reminders of someone who was an intergral part of someone's life. She was my conpanion, my therapist, my sweetie pie when she was good and my "snake" when she was bad and nipping at my hands when I tried to pet her.

There will never be another Gracie as she was as unique as she could be. She was an individual and picky as to who she let love her. She switched between Karen and Jeff, treating each of us with samples of her sweet love each day. We learned her habits and likes and dislikes and she trained us rather than the other way around.

Gracie, I know there is a kitty heaven and she is watching me right now, meowing now as I write this. She never really gave me approval, only an OK from time to time just to let me know who was in charge. She says now "Jeff, I miss you too, but it was time was us and I wanted to leave while you and Karen were in NC, sparing you this pain". She is saying "remember me and find a little kitty soon and give it your love, and I'll just look down and help from time to time". Bye for now, see you later...signed "Gracie Friar Nutter".