July 1, 1993 - October 19, 2009This is my most difficult post yet. Last night I had to say goodbye to my dear friend Lucy. She was 16 and a cat. That's what the outside world sees. Here's what I see.
Lucy was my faithful companion. She gave unconditional love. She was never disappointed in me, never angry at me, never too busy for me, never too anything for me. When I hurt or worried, she crawled into my lap and purred absorbing my troubles like a sponge. When I was happy, she crawled into my lap and purred. When we watched tv at night, she would crawl into my lap and purr, just happy to be with us. When Daniel and I were first married, she entertained me while he worked late hours. When the children were born, she watched over them with me and loved them because I loved them. When I had surgery, she remained by my side throughout my recovery. When I had bouts of insomnia, she got up with me - sometimes she was able to lull me back to sleep with her magic kitty dust and other times we just sat together until the morning came.
Every day she has been there - at the foot of the bed, in the sunbeam, in front of the cabinet with the kitty treats inside, on the couch with whomever happened to sit there, in my lap as I typed these many blogs... and now she's not. For the first time in 16 years, there's no life in the house when we're not there and when we are, there's still an eerie emptiness. How could one little kitty cat bring so much life, love, and joy into a house? That's an easy one. Lucy just reflected back all the love we gave to her. We treated her like one of us and loved her like one of us and so she became one of us.
We buried her in the backyard last night, out near the poplar trees and Sara's tree from USC. Many family members came out to say farewell with us. It was a sweet and fitting tribute to my very best friend.
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