Missy the Cat

I wrote this about four years ago:

I had to put my cat Missy "to sleep," about 11 years ago. She, unlike many cats, loved babies and served as their favorite furry pillow. Missy and the "current" baby we had at the time would nap in the afternoon sunlight on the carpet. When the oldest "baby" was old enough to go off to the Air Force, Missy got sick. She had kidney failure. The day she could no longer climb into her favorite chair was when I made the tough decision to take her to the vet. I put her on the bed to take her final picture. Even though she was barely awake, she managed to mustered her best cat-smile. She too knew where she was going and purred like a kitten in my lap in the car. She stayed in my lap, with her head on her paw, as the vet agreed with my decision. She looked up at me, before the Vet sat down next to us, and she said, "I love you Bob. Thanks for saving me from the pound, a day before it was 'too late.' Thanks for the laser-tag, the ear scratches behind the ears and that stash of catnip. Thanks for the Girl Scout cookies and glass of milk we shared every evening. I want you to know that I forgave you for that 'rubber band on the tail' trick and those horrible flea-baths your wife insisted you give me. But … our babies are grown now and my job is done. I'm told that most cats go to the Celestial Kingdom and I'll be sure and ask for you as my owner when you get there. But most of all, Bob, thank you for those babies … it was nice of you to let me love them and babysit them. I loved those babies." Then she put her head down and when she stopped purring I knew she was gone. I cried for hours that afternoon. I buried her in the back yard and every spring flowers grow above her.

Now that the grand babies are arriving and they come to the house to visit, the replacement cats are way too busy to want to deal with them. The grand babies just don't know that the best nap is with Missy as their pillow.