A Little Mourning

Anyone who knows me knows I am a sap for animals. I can't watch movies that have animals getting hurt in them, I can't read that book Marley because I know the dog dies at the end, and I believe that Michael Vick should get the death penalty, and I generally argue against the death penalty. I love animals, all animals, not just my animals, but all animals. So here's a story about one little animal.

Fourteen years ago I heard a meow coming from a snow bank outside the building I was taking classes in. It was freezing cold in Syracuse and there was this little kitty meowing. I grab her, take her home with me to my apartment. Of course I'm not allowed to have pets, so I call my dad. I make this very compelling case for taking care of the kitty for at least a couple of months and then a friend of mine will take her. My dad very graciously says yes. I name the kitty Manute (after Manute Boll (sp?) who was very popular at the time) and bring her home. Of course my friend never takes her and she moves with me and my dad to our new home in West Coxsackie. When my dad first moved in there was no furniture, no other people (my dad lives out in the middle of nowhere) so Manute was his roommate. They used to sleep next to each other on the floor in what would become his room. Over the years she has watched a number of animals come and go. Every time one of us moved home we came with a pet, which we left. While my husband lived with my dad for a couple of months he climbed a tree to rescue Manute, and got much scratched up in the process. She was cute and sweet and she had no teeth. She never made a sound, she hated being carried, and her favorite person in the world was my dad. She used to sit next to him and just lean on him and if he wasn't paying sufficient attention she would claw him.

Manute left home Thursday night and hasn't returned. My dad called yesterday to let me know that he thinks she has heard the great kitty call and left. You know cats do this. They know their time is near and they go off to find a comfortable place. I haven't seen her in a year and a half and I would have liked to see her one last time. As I sit here and write this tears are rolling down my face. Wherever she is, I am sure she has found some nice soft soul to lean up against.