I know it's silly as heck, because she was an animal, but it doesn't matter. She drove me nuts, nipping at my ankles and feet and was underfoot a lot when I lived at home in Muscatine, and I haven't seen her since Christmas, but I'm gonna miss her.
I'm talking about the family cat, Athena. She died sometime either last night or this morning at home. She was sixteen, which translates to 96 in cat years.
I was sixteen years old when my brother, Dan, got her and her brother Aires from a litter of kittens that a family friend had. Aires died back in 2003 right after Christmas. But I digress...
Dan was a huge cat person, so he liked having the kittens around. They were pretty darn rambunctious back then, jumping on people and scratching my legs (and pantyhose) before getting de-clawed. I remember seeing them lay down at both ends of my nephew (he was a newborn at the time), acting like they were his guard kitties.
A couple of years later, I was getting ready to start college and one of my friends was dating my brother at the time and hanging out at the house a lot (to the point where she was leaving things there). Athena would go up to my brother's room and bring down pairs of socks my friend would leave up there, carrying them in her mouth. We used to joke that she was a jealous kitty and trying to kick my bro's girlfriends out of the house.
I also remember seeing my oldest nephew get batted by Athena's paws every time he'd walk by where she was sprawled on the floor, and he'd always say, "Don't, kitty!" It took him some time to learn how to say her name.
I'm feeling sad, because this is another reminder that things change and don't stay the same. When I go home to Muscatine to visit, Athena won't be there, running to the door to greet me. I won't hear her meowing, and try to meow back at her. Yeah, she was a pain (especially when I tried to keep her from getting cat hair all over my outfit for my date last year and keep her from nipping at said date's ankles), but she was a part of the family, and I am going to miss her. *snif*
Slan go foill...
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