An Awkward Goodbye
I have a kitty named Orange. She lives with my parents now but from the beginning she was my kitty and she loved me. She was originally a friend's cat and, when they found out they were moving and couldn't take her with them, they insisted we take her because they knew we were "cat people" and she would be loved. She was an odd one from the start. I remember her original owners telling stories of her liking to circle the tub while the bath water was running or the washing machine as it was filling...and falling in. She had a sort of honkish meow that sounded more like some adolescent goose than anything feline. She snorted like a pig. If she liked you, she bit you. It was as simple as that. And she would burrow under the bed covers like a mole and nap there and countless times have I either sat down on her accidentally or been convinced she'd suffocated. But she liked it in there. She had a freckle on her bottom lip that grew as she grew older and we always joked that it was cancer.
Orange came all the way from China. She's been on at least 3 plane rides and 1 train ride and most recently a long-haul truck ride across the country. She has traveled more than she should have had to, more than many people ever will. She is 15 years old, I think possibly going blind in one eye, has a chronic cold, limps, HAS to be 80% deaf (and makes up for it with vocal volume) by now, and can't hold her britches. And it's time to put her down.
I know pets are animals but that never makes them any less family. And Orange is my sis. My weird, obnoxious sissy. My awkward girl. And I will miss her. I teared up today thinking about her going away...but most of all I teared up thinking about her not being put down and what it meant to prolong the inevitable. It's time. When I was getting ready to move out to North Carolina for the first time, I couldn't imagine being without her. I even considered taking her with me but it wouldn't have worked. In my final parting with her before I left, I whispered, "You're my best friend..." to her as she snorted and dug around to try to get under the covers for one of her naps. And I meant it. It's hard to believe it's been 15 years. I love you, Snakey. Rest now.
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