In 1998, Vermont had a nasty ice storm that slammed much of the state. I was five, and had just recently dealt through my parents' rather bumpy divorce. My mom had been planning to get a cat for a while; she grew up with them in her own house, and now, living alone with me, she wanted to get her own. By a run of chance, we happened to stumble upon a lady who was giving her young cat away, since she was moving away due to complications regarding the ice storm, to a place that didn't allow cats. By luck, we became the new happy owners of Millie.
At that point, Millie was already four or five in human years, as she was born in 1994. Today, that makes her nearly nineteen years old, nearly as old as me, as I was born in 1993. Millie has been a consistent part of my entire life, from rigorous and often confusing childhood, through middle and high school. It became increasingly clear through the later years of 2008 through 2011 that Millie's health, along with her age, was deteriorating. I can happily say she was fine with the help of some meds, and for a long time, you wouldn't know she was an old woman, with the way she hunted socks to try and show us humans how to properly catch food and then meow for you to come and fetch it, or how she would leap several feet up onto the kitchen counter and demand fuss from you.
Like many cats contract in later years, Millie has had failing kidneys for a while now. Unfortunately, it has come to the point where her weak kidneys cannot keep up with her bodies' demand for water. Clumps of fur, weak limping, dry heaving, the list goes on. While she was still relatively healthy in eating and drinking, it had gotten to a point where my mom was almost afraid to bring her in, for she had a dreadful feeling she knew what the doctor was going to say. Last night, she came into my room and had a talk with me about how she was almost certain it was time to say good-bye, and that she'd make a call the next day, and we'd decide on what to do regarding the doctor's diagnosis.
The day after, this afternoon, I sat with a life long friend and watched them die peacefully, as I, my mother and my sister couldn't help but cry uncontrollably, in putting her to sleep.
Millie was a beautiful white and greyish Siamese/short hair. She had the most angelic chirping sound a cat could possess to let you know she loved you when you fussed her and gave her your undivided attention. I haven't stopped periodically crying and standing besides myself at the cold reality that after fifteen years of having her chirping at me from her purple bean bag, she's actually gone. To be honest, it felt so very wrong and alien to leave her there at the vets', even though I knew she had already passed away.
We're going to have her cremated, and place her ashes above the TV entertainment center, though I'd love to find a special shelf to place where her beanbag used to always be.
The 'grieving over a loved one' is a new concept to me, for better or worse. This isn't some big dramatic 'I'm taking time off' sort of deal, as I can't really shift a routine that easily. It will mean that I'm not all too sure how good my mood is going to be for a few days, to a week, maybe more. I've dreaded, and even teared up in the past over this day, and now that its' finally here, I've found I have no more energy to cry here at 10 PM, having started since 4 PM.
I only hope she's in a better place.
Thanks for reading.
- 25
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