Kritter

Shortly after I graduated from college, Sean and I began to make plans.  Being quite tired of apartment living, Sean was going to first buy a house.  Shortly thereafter we would get engaged and then I would move in with him once we were married.

Really, what this meant to Sean was that he would at long last be able to get his own cat.

But not just any cat....it had to be a BLACK kitten.

It was spring, and I assumed that this would be a fairly easy request to fulfill.  I was wrong.  Would you believe we spent an entire weekend searching every single shelter in the greater Kansas City area to no avail?  Oh we saw plenty of kittens all right....kittens in every color of the rainbow - except for black.  Worried that our quest was going to fail, we decided to try one last place - the Petsmart close to my house that normally only adopted out adult cats.  To our great surprise, the first cage we saw held two tiny black kittens.  When the employee opened the cage Kritter lept out and attached himself to the front of Sean's shirt....

...and it was love at first sight.

To be honest, Kritter was always a one-person sort of cat, and Sean was his person.  He never quite forgave me for moving in on his territory, nor for bringing another cat and (heaven forbid) a DOG into his home.  To compound the problem, he knew I was responsible for his eventual declaw....although that could have been avoided had he not destroyed my couch out of spite for my crimes against his territory.  So my own history with him was, well, rather questionable.

However, he loved Sean with every fiber of his being.  Sometimes it seemed they spoke their own special language.  It was like they were made for each other.

When he allowed Gillian into his small world - a priviledge she worked very, very hard to earn - it was a special gift indeed to my small girl.

In an act of great compassion, the day after my Tynan cat died Kritter curled up next to me in bed and spent half the day purring softly for me.....something he had never done before, and which he never repeated.  It was, however, a gift that Tynan had often given me over the years, and it is my belief that Kritter knew I needed it that day.

Yesterday afternoon we had to say good bye to Kritter.  At 15, his poor body was worn out, and Sean made the compassionate decision to end his suffering.  We were fortunate that circumstances were such that my father was able to help Kritter with his passage in as peaceful a manner as possible.  As per the girls' request, Kritter will be buried on the hill at my parents' farm that has provided the final resting place to our family pets for the last 20 years.

Thank You Kritter.  You were a great cat, and wherever you are now I hope there are plenty of moles for you to hunt and a few old friends to keep you company.

We love you, and we miss you.

My apologies....I managed to accidentally delete the contents of this post late yesterday.  I've reconstructed it to the best of my abilities.