I remember 12 years ago, walking through the cat adopts room at a Chicago shelter. It was my birthday and I was to get a cat - after many years of deferring. It would be our first together and we had envisioned a 5 year old, or so, male.
We walked past a cage about waist height and I bent down to peer in. A beautiful young calico was huddled against the back wall, scared as all. I pointed her out to my wife and then we walked on, visiting several others. We came within 5 seconds of taking our 5-year old male, when we were aced out by others, just a little faster. I said, well how about we visit with that calico we passed. She was speaking to me.
We sat on a nearby bench and one of the attendants brought her to us. The first thing she did was hiss at the cats along the opposite wall, as if to say MINE! That did it. She was ours.
Her name was Diamond; we renamed her Pumpkin. A beautiful, 9-month old, torbie. She was the love our lives for 12 years, even when joined by rambunctious black cat Riley.
In recent months, Pumpkin's bone marrow failed - it wasn't producing nearly enough red blood cells and she was becoming increasingly anemic. It wasn't active leukemia and the actual cause was never pinned down. We - and she - did everything the vet and specialist could think of. But even after a transfusion and more meds, nothing worked. The numbers just didn't improve. Several days ago she stopped eating and went downhill rapidly.
This morning we said goodbye to our Pumpkin. She fell asleep on my wife's lap for the last time. Thankfully at home (she had a long rap sheet as a bad patient at the vets). We will miss her to no end.
You'll always be my beautiful girl Peaster.
ps Thanks for any who stopped by. Of course I've seen many of this sort of Diary. I've wondered why, on a political blog, but read them all and teared up at more than a few. Now I know why. Because I need to write it and this is a community. So thanks.