In Kitty Heaven

This is Curiosity, my cat. We call her Curio for short (which in the dictionary means "piece of work" and that she is). She is twenty years old and I didn't think cats could live that long! My mom didn't want to break the news by email, so she called me from the States this week to tell me that my cat had gone to kitty heaven. It was such a sad day! For all of you who don't like cats I know you're thinking, "she's just a cat." But, not this one. This one was special.

When I was seven or eight years old we lived in Pennsylvania and my kitten had died, probably because I forgot to feed it one night (at least that's what I thought, and I felt so guilty thinking that the poor kitten's death was on my head). So, that week when my Sunday School teacher asked if there were any prayer requests I told my class about the loss of my kitten. The Sunday School teacher was so touched that she later told my mom that they had some extra cats and could give us one to replace the kitten. They already had a name for her (which is where Curiosity comes from) and she was a year old, but she was mine. Nineteen years later she was still mine. I hope someday I can find my old Sunday School teacher again and thank her for such a precious gift! For the last five summers before venturing off to college or China I would say goodbye to that cat, thinking it would surely be the last time. But, no, no. This time I didn't say goodbye, just cuddled her and told her I might see her soon, even though in my heart I knew it would be the last.

Curio and I had a special bond and for years I was the only one she would come to. In her old age, though, she became more affectionate with others. We were so surprised one day when she crawled into my dad's lap because he was the last person who tried to win her affections (he's still bitter about her peeing on his couch back when she was a young'un, and rightly so). For years she would sleep next to me at night. But, her haven was the outdoors. In her later years she didn't have claws or teeth but she still managed to bring "gifts" to the door in the form of mice, moles, and rabbits. She would beam as if she were so proud. One time she got stuck in the street sewer when we were in New York and it took several hours trying to get her out. After some of the fights she got with other animals and the fact she lived so long brought new meaning to a cat's nine lives.

Curio lived a good life and she lived it well. She was quite the world traveler as she moved with us from Pennsylvania to New York to Georgia to California to North Carolina. She traveled on two cross-country airplanes and she hated cars. She had two litters of kittens and outlived four dogs. At the end she couldn't hear, which means she thought you couldn't hear either and would meow as loudly as she possibly could. You could hear her meow crescendo from across the house. Dad used to make fun of her, but she didn't care. She didn't like the dogs either and instead of them chasing her, she would chase the dogs. They just wanted to be friends and didn't understand her desire for space. Of course, if a dog's nose was constantly up my butt I'd want some space too!

My grandma always tells me that when you get a pet, you get them for life. It's not something you can just change your mind about six months later. Twenty years is a long life. If it wasn't for my mama's constant care, she would have been dead a long time ago. After the vets put her to sleep they all signed a sympathy card, which was touching. She's in happier places now :)
Curio lives on in our hearts. Such a sentimental and cheesy thing to say, I know, but she was family. This is my tribute to her.