You'll Be In My Heart.

Image source here.

 Yesterday, I lost my childhood cat after spending twelve loving years spent with me and my family.  'Twas a sad day indeed, yet I'm going to take today to reminisce fondly on some of the happy times spent with my M.

Some favorite M highlights: 

- I found my cat in a cat shelter.  Mom said don't touch that dirty, scrawny cat, but he just seemed so eager for some love!  I petted him nonetheless and unknowingly he soon (about one week later) actually became mine.
- He never really purred.  He just 'vibrated'. I loved feeling under his chin for that wee vibration.
- He was such a hunter.  The year I became a vegetarian, he brought me home a dead squirrel on the day Thanksgiving.
- When he was a baby, my Mom used to a carry him around in her coat pocket. He was so little and had a little snake-y of a tail.
- He was a good mother to his stuffed animal "baby". Even taking the time to bath and feed it.
- He spent many nights sleeping on my bed growing up.  The matted fur on my bedsheets was proof.

The wonderful thing about pets is their companionship.  Through thick and thin they love you and are a constant source of joy. I owe my cat for providing me with so much happiness and fond memories over the years. However, what I really owe my cat for is the love and loyalty he showed my parents when I left the coop and spread my own wings.  They may have lost their 'baby' to university, but thankfully they still had him to baby back on the home range. And for that, I want to thank him for taking care of them over all these years.

Don't you worry, M, because you'll be in my heart ...always. 
  
Do you know the 'You'll Be in My Heart' Phil Collins' song from the animated Disney movie Tarzan?  If so, you'll recognize the mama-baby picture posted above. My Mom always said she was my cat's mother...even though they were two different species!