Then there were three . . .

Mikey came into our lives on Friday night May 25, 2001. I was at home sewing Ems' graduation dress for the next Tuesday when she called me at 10 pm. "Mom! I found five kittens at the restaurant park!" Me: "Leave them there. Their mother must be around." Ems--"It's too late. They're already in the car!" I contacted the Howard County Cat Club which is a rescue group because I was concerned about the mother cat. Ems had seen her and she appeared to be feral and hid. The cat club trapped the mom a week later, had her spayed, gave her shots and released her as she was, indeed, really wild. I knew ultimately that the babies would have better lives if they were taken care of. In they came! Five tiny, and I mean tiny babies. Ems' first words were "One's polydactyl! Can we keep him?" Without hesitation, I said yes. These babies were about 12 days old. I had grown up with mom cats and I was well aware of all the developmental stages of kittenhood. I was worried that they may have been exposed to things that I didn't want my 4 indoor kitties to get so the babies were put in a box with a blanket in the kids' bathroom. We started them on KMR immediately. There were two all black males, one tabby and white male, a tabby female and Mikey, also tabby and white with his extra toes. He was named Mikey after Ems' friend Mikey who was with her when she found them. Mikey, the human, was really stocky. Mikey, the kitten, was also stocky with his big old feet, much like like a little bulldog. The kittens grew and we adopted out 3 of them. We kept Mikey's brother who was named Greg. Greg was the runt, weighing in at 1 3/4 pounds at 6 weeks old when the others were all in the 4 pound range. He was sickly and I couldn't part with him because he got so much extra mothering. Greg is now a 19 pound black panther.

Mikey had so much personality. The kitty sitter we have has always said, "Don't be surprised if Mikey is missing when you get home!" He was very talkative and personable. He would carry his cat teaser around (that's the feather on the end of a long stick) and drop it at our feet so that we would play "spinny" with him. Spinny was when we would make him run around in circles chasing the feather--much like chasing his tail. It was comical to see him do this on his big old feet!




This is how I remember him most--lying on the couch in his "rub my belly" pose. It was part of our nightly routine. In fact, if I was busy, he would come over and nag me to come to the couch so he could lie on his back for a belly rub.

I chronicled his illness here and in the last post I talked about the ordeal of the last week. We had decided last night to put in a feeding tube because he was doing so much better. I talked to the vet today and he wasn't doing well. I went to see him and his temperature had dropped to 96, his blood pressure had gone down and he had some fluid in his lungs. Ironically, his electrolytes were up to normal. He was very cold when I was with him and he was covered with a blanket and surrounded by heated rice bags to warm him up. He cried like I've never heard him and I knew what I had to do. He just had that look in his eyes. I told the vet and she cried too--saying that they had all become rather attached to him. I stayed with him when they injected his IV and he was already half asleep. He died peacefully. My gut tells me I did the right thing, but I am still heart broken.

Here are some favorite photos of my Mikey:

Running around under the rug!

Waiting for mom to get ready in the morning:

Nestling by the creche at Christmas time:

Napping on the dining room table:

Curious Mike:

Watching Mom vaccuum:

Celebrating the 4th of July:

Cuddling with sibling Greg:

Cheek to cheek with Harley:

Hanging around the window with Samantha:

Rest in Peace my little angel kitty. You enriched our lives more than you will ever know. We miss you.

Legacy

Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children.
--Charles R. Swindoll


On the Fuh River in China--Mom as an infant with her mother and two older siblings.


My mother died last Thursday. It's been coming and we've been prepared for it, but it is sad none the less. Mothers are the heart of the family unit. I truly believe that. I feel extremely fortunate to have had the one I had.

My mom led an interesting life. She was the third of four children all of whom were born in China. My grandparents were missionaries there from 1909 - 1940. They were there during the war and during the Communist uprising. The family lived in the Chinese interior and the children were homeschooled. It wasn't until high school that Mom's family moved to Shanghai. All of the children were college educated with two becoming doctors. After college Mom joined the American Red Cross which enabled her to tour Europe and Asia before moving back with her parents who had retired in Nashville, Tenn. She met my dad while playing piano in a USO club where he happened to be.

I feel very lucky to have the memories I have. My mom had several traits that made her special.

She always looked at the bright side of things. I can remember times as a kid when things seemed hopeless and she would always sit down and help me find the positive in almost anything.

She had a sense of adventure. No matter what we were doing, Mom could make it fun. Even chores! She was always able to make a game out of the most monotonous chores! She was always ready to get up and go try something new. Everything was always an adventure!

She was ready to lend a hand to anyone who needed help. Whether family, friend, neighbor or stranger-- the first words out of my mother's mouth were always "How can I help?"

Mom's funeral, while sad, was a celebration of a life well-lived -- one that is a shining example of humor, civility and kindness.

My hope is for her legacy to live on through me and my children.


For my fiber loving friends, here are a couple old photos I came across,


That's me in the 4th grade sporting my new permanent wave and my leopard sweatshirt! My mother taught me to knit when I was about 10 years old! You can also see part of a cat in one of the photos. Somehow we always ended up with all the homeless animals in the neighborhood. I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Mom was a home economics major, so it was important to her that I learn to sew and cook as well. She agonized over the fact that I never took home economics in school. I didn't disappoint her! I think the need to create is genetic, so I learned all these things on my own.

Funny--Ems was speaking at the funeral about how she remembered her grandma. She was always silly and fun. I was honored when Ems said she sees her grandma everyday in me. I'm becoming my mother! Even funnier is that KC told Ems that she was becoming me! I guess we really do live on in our loved ones!

Then there were four

We've had 6 cats for 6 years now. We got Peanut in 1990, then Cosmo in 1996. Harley and Samantha joined us in 2000 and Greg and Mikey rounded out the bunch in 2001. The number dropped to 5 when Ems moved out just before Christmas and took Cosmo, AKA Mokey the fashion show kitty, with her. Now we have 4. As much as I hated to, I had to take Peanut AKA Deke to be put down on Friday night. Thursday night he could barely move his legs, he was weak and would appear to cry for food, but wouldn't eat. I know it was the merciful thing to do, but I still feel guilty. I guess the guilt comes from taking him to the vet's which is an unfamiliar place to him. I've read that there are vets who make housecalls for this, but ours isn't one. He was purring the whole time and the vet was extremely kind, making sure that he was looking at DH and me and that he was comfortable. He was down to 5 and a half pounds. He typically weighed about 11 pounds when he was healthy. I took these photos afterwork on Friday.



I dug out some photos from a past Christmas about 12 years ago.





He used to sleep in the town square of the train board, knowing that the kids couldn't step on it to get him. This inspired us to create the following insert for our annual Christmas card:

I miss him sitting next to me on the couch and crying for cheese when I go in the kitchen. He is buried under the grape arbor with our little angel kitty lawn ornament over him for now. He will get a nice garden stone with his name on it.

People who don't have pets often don't understand how us pet owners can grieve so much over an animal. They are family members to us. They depend on us to take care of them and in return, they bring us joy and unconditional love. Deke did that for 17 years. I only hope our other kitties live such long lives. Meanwhile, I am flanked by Harley and Mikey as I write this, so I won't be short on kitty love. I still feel Deke's absence and will for some time. Time will heal that.