Goodbye

I moved to Kansas in April, 1999. That September, the girl across from me at work was looking for someone to adopt some kittens. Having had cats my entire life AND being a little lonely, I jumped all over it. Three males and a tiny female - I voted for the female. When I went over to meet her, one of her brothers attached himself to me. I had on large cuffed pants and he curled right up inside one and went to sleep - purring and purring. I was smitten. I agreed to two kitties.

A week later I went back to pick them up. We went on our first family outing - to a certain young man's apartment to watch the Michigan/Rice football game. I had already agreed on the names Zoe and Zeke, but being the good mom I was I needed middle names. At the time I had a crush on said boy whose middle initial was "A". He refused to tell me what it stood for so I declared it "Arthur", and named my new kitty after him. (Lucky for all involved, I ended up marrying that guy 4 years later so I didn't have to lie about where his name came from...) I was living in an apartment at the time and because I was cheap I didn't disclose my new pets to the

management. I got away with for about a year and a half but the darn exterminators turned me in. Kitties had to find a new home OR I had to pay up. As luck would have it, my new boyfriend had just purchased his first home and received a cat from his sister (Cal) so he offered to take them in. They made themselves right at home.

Zoe passed away the following May but Zekum grew into a big, big kitty. I'm certain Zeke never knew what he was getting himself in to. We broke him in slowly. First Sydney. She sniffed too much, he beat her nose. He broke her in quite easily. He was all too prepared when we got Satchel two years later. He didn't even blink. He was getting so brave, he didn't even need us to make him special pillow forts to hide in when we got out the vacuum. When his mommy got sick soon after and spent all of her time laying on the couch or rocking in her new glider, he'd sit right with her purring and was one of the few things that could make her feel better. (He was even the cure for in-utero hiccups!) He even posed for funny sonogram pictures to try to make me laugh. But then we stepped it up a bit and brought home a baby. While he wasn't crazy about the noise or smells that came with it, he loved all the new sleeping spaces.Just as he got used to #1, we surprised him with #2. Then #3. The everyday noise got to be to much for his sensitive ears so he spent more daylight hours hiding in the basement. As soon as he heard those bedroom doors close, however, he was out for some lovin'. He loved to sleep on our laps in the evening and would race us upstairs at bedtime. He would sleep on our pillows surrounding our heads - purring and chirping all night long - with a couple quick head bashings tossed in. But when he started bathing - which was a given because he was a very clean kitty - mom kicked him out and he'd happily take his place on his favorite piece of cardboard in the basement.

Poor Zekum was not able to recover from his medical mishaps this week and we had to say goodbye to him this morning. He was a sweet and loving kitty and will be sorely missed.

This week has been a little much, as you could probably imagine. We had to go buy dog food and just walking down the pet aisle at Target was painful. Losing them both was definitely too much too soon. We never really imagined ourselves as a "dog-only" family. The boys have taken the news really well and were ready to go right out this afternoon to get two new kitties - to name Zeke and Cal, of course. While we probably won't miss the boys screaming and chasing the cats through the house, we will most certainly miss Abby's giggling at and copying their meow's. For now, our kitty door stands silent and or laps are empty. But our hearts will always be full.

Ezekial Arthur. July 5, 1999 - March 5, 2011.