What greater gift

Everybody had a pet when I was growing up. There was Ziggy, my best friend's Schnauzer, that we tried to dress and play in the massive mounds of snow during the 1967 snowstorm. There was the cat Ting Li who always had to be a part of our girlhood parties and sleepovers at Marla's house. There was always a pet at every occasion; every barbeque greeting the guests in their backyard like Tiger. Everybody had a pet but me. My father was a lover of Labradors, one he had growing up on a farm. My mother a lover of cats, Ginger, an orange tabby that had been her best childhood friend. Where was my pet? Could we have both?

And at every table discussion, they couldn't decide and never did

Life went on and so did I until my ten year old son came to me and asked if we could take in a new kitty that had been abused and the runt of the litter. My son and daughter didn't have any pets either so though not sure if I could handle the responsibility of a kitten who had lost its whiskers to a bully, Chloe became part of the family.

Her first visit to the vet had not been a pleasant one since trust was not her forte. Trying to bite the vet and others at the Cat Hospital, I was told that she would always be difficult, not friendly to the outside world but territorial and protective to those she trusted and eventually loved. I was also told to find another vet after that first visit.

As the years passed, Chloe never ruined furniture, knocked things over and always followed the rules. She never hid either but would sit in front of the fireplace on a cold winter evening or sit in front of the windows watching spring blossom. And she never bit again. She would climb up next to me when the kids were fighting pretending to bite my wrist and I realized years later that was her way of building my patience. And there was never a night when I would climb in bed to read or fall asleep that she was not there grabbing my arm, kneading my arm as I propped up to read. Even if I didn't want to read, that was our way to calm ourselves after the long days of working and motherhood.

For a time my Mother lived with us and she loved cats though Chloe was not affectionate to others. One day, I had walked in the door and my mother simultaneously fell, breaking her hip. We called the paramedics immediately and as soon as one of the gentleman was leaning over my mother on the floor, Chloe came from nowhere and jumped on his back. He had cats of his own and his assistant gently removed the tiny protector though once again, she never bit him. I apologized profusely at the hospital for the shocking behavior of the little feline girl and told him that he was welcome to sue. He laughed, said he was a cat owner, thought it was kind of neat that she was trying to protect the herd. She knows who is important. I will never forget and neither did my mother so thrilled that Chloe actually cared for her in someway or another.

The last few weeks, we have watched Chloe's decline; a heart wrenching event that I had no idea how painful. She stopped eating and began trying to find places to hide. She began losing weight and would run to the doors to try to get outside, which she never was an outdoor cat. Looking for a place to die? She was drinking but last week that came to an end and her body became so terribly frail but she still tried, walking up the stairs, two steps at a time and stopping.

It was the last couple of days where she needed to be held full-time....we could never do that before so family had a chance to bond with her in a way that she never would have allowed. Family had time to cry and tell her they loved her especially me. One time I placed her on my bed next to me and she desperately tried to rise up and knead my arm.....she saw another novel in my hand that I had no concentration for....which she did with such determination. It was time for the final visit at the vet and she knew.... passing away at home in the early hours of the morning.

I look for her still, I hear her cry and my books sit for a later time when I know she is with me in spirit. What greater gift than the love of a pet....what greater love than Chloe.