Ericka Sermon was named after my husband's previous cat Erick Sermon. (I called her Ericka Jo or Jojo.) My husband adopted her and her sister Jenny Pee Pie Penney (whom I call Jenny Sue) together around end of '94/early '95. (He's not positive of the exact date.) He gave them the birthday of 12/01/94 which is funny because that is also my birthday (12/01) but he hadn't met me yet. We do not have children (yet) and Ericka and her sister are our babies. Even tho they are sisters, they are like night and day. Ericka was a beautiful cat with reddish-brown fur and had a big fluffy "feather-duster" tail. She had the cutest way of walking, it looked like she was wiggling her hind end with her big tail in the air. She had the most beautiful green eyes and very distinct markings on her face and fluffy hair coming out of her ears. She also purred louder than any cat I have ever met! When I met my husband she was four and it took her some time to warm up to me and when she did it melted my heart. She would follow me around and wait to see where I was sitting to come lay next to me. We had her cremated and she is by our backyard tree where her sister will join her someday. We miss her terribly but know she is at peace and probably eating a big bowl of tuna which she loved. May GOD take care of her until we can meet again. We love you Ericka forever and ever! *Mommy, Daddy, Jenny, Hobbie and all the "babies" Today is 3/2/05 and it has been a year today that my sweet Ericka went to the rainbows bridge. I cannot believe a whole year has passed since I saw your beautiful face my baby. I found a really good picture of you and put it on the fridge recently so that I can look at you every day. The pictures of you that I pulled out when you were first gone are still on mommy and daddy's bed, I have not put them away and do not plan to. (Mommy still needs to send one in to put on here, you know how mommy procrastinates sometimes.) I went out to your tree where your physical body's ashes were spread and as I was talking to you it started to rain. I have been told that GOD cries and mourns with us and I believe that is why it rained so suddenly. We adopted another cat named Honey Dew on 3/14/04, just twelve days after you were gone. I did not want Jenny to feel lonely. They do fight with each other once in awhile and do not get along with each other as well as you and Jenny did but for the most part they are both doing well. I talk to your sister Jenny about you often and I tell her you are happy and healthy and that you miss us as we miss you but that you are watching over her and us too. I feel your spirit here and close my eyes and see your face as you laid next to me on the couch so many times. I miss your cute little walk with your tail held so high and imagine seeing that again. Most of all I miss feeling you next to me when I slept on the couch and how content it made me feel and how I knew you felt the same way. Quite a few animals have passed on in our neighborhood since you have been gone and I believe they are with you at the bridge. I believe all the animals I have known and loved over the years and with you, especially daddy's cat Erick and the stray Chester we found last year and tried to rescue. We did rescue one kitten from the road and it was adopted so that was a good story to tell you. We also take good care of J.T. Even tho he isn't officially ours, we feel like he is. I still cry (daddy does too) but I know GOD had a reason to send you to the bridge and I know you are not in pain anymore my baby. I still feel you were too young to go, nine years is not old for a cat. I love you my sweet Ericka (Jo-Jo) (we all do) and we miss you very much. GOD bless you now and forever. Until we meet again, *Mommy, Daddy, Jenny, Hobbie, the "babies", Honey and J.T. too* Today is 3/4/06 and you have been gone for 2 years and 2 days today. I miss you so much my sweet beautiful Ericka Jo. (Jo-Jo) Mommy and daddy are still trying to have a human baby and have had a rough year. Jenny is fine, she sleeps more and I know she is getting older. She has been crying at night when we are sleeping and I wonder if she is talking to you or crying out because she misses you. Honey is fine too. She will never be your replacement and I don't want you to think that way. She is very definately her own cat and has a silly personality but she loves us and follows mama around like you did. I wonder if GOD decided it was your time to go so that we could give Honey the home she needed. I think her previous homes were not very good so I am happy she is happy here with us. She and Jenny still tussle somewhat but when we are on vacation we are told they sleep close to each other a lot. J.T. stays at our house a lot, he does think he is our's and we are happy to have it that way. Jenny and Honey watch him out of the front window at night. A few months ago it was cold and we let him stay in our sunroom. (We had it built since you were gone.) The girls love to lay out there in the sun (especially your sis) and know you would have loved it too. Oh Jo-Jo I miss you so. Mama is crying as she remembers you and how special you were and always will be to us. I pray that you are happy and healthy and remember us and that we love you and miss you my beautiful girl. I pray to see you again someday. We love you always and never forget you, Mama, Daddy, Jenny, Honey, and even J.T. (And Sap too plus the babies.) Today is 3/2/08 and you have been at the Rainbows Bridge for four years now. (I don't know why I did not post on your residency last year and I am sorry baby girl.) I think of you often and even tho we have another newer cat now no one will ever take your place my sweet Ericka. First I will tell you that J.T.'s old family asked us to officially become his mommy and daddy so he is our's now too. He is still an outdoor cat since that is how he always has been and he does like being outside. He comes in the sunroom for bad weather and he is pretty cozy in there lying on the couch daddy's family had for as long as he can remember. He is a good boy. We adopted a cat named Dodger (Dodger was her name when we got her on May 18th, 2006) and mom calls her Dodger Lou or Peechel. You know mommy likes to call her babies silly names. (J.T. is officially J.T. Hugh now so all the babies have rhyming middle names. I even called this stray Charcoal Roo.) Dodger came from a family in our neighborhhod and they were looking for a new home for her since she was afraid of their two big dogs. I went to the mailbox one day and there was her pic and it said "need a buddy?" and I thought she was a boy due to her name. She hid for two days in this house when I brought her home, I don't think she was used to other cats. Honey and J.T. look a lot alike with long white and cream fur but Dodger is black with shorter fur and a little bit of white on her chest. She is very attached to her mama and is Honey. They follow me a lot and sometimes they fight to be next to mama but I stop them. Jenny has come to Honey's defense many times which surprised daddy and I. Jenny is tough! Most of the time they get a along pretty well. (I think they bond when daddy and mommy go out of town.) Jenny is getting older and sleeps a lot but I guess you know that. I talk to her about you and tell her I know she misses you but that you are always with us and watching over her. She loves the other cats but she still misses her sister and knows you are near to us. Mommy and daddy still have no human babies but are looking into adopting some. I bet the girls will really be jealous when the babies come! Mama takes lots of pics of them because she learned her lesson when she did not take enough of you when you were here with us. I don't ever want to forget how my sweet angels looked or forget anything about you. When I put the Christmas stuff out every year I remember how you reacted to things we put on the fireplace mantle. I still have a little bit of your fur in a special box and I look at it sometimes. I think the day you left us in your physical body was the worst day of my life. Sometimes I still cannot believe you are not here by my side or sleeping between my legs on the couch. I think I miss that the most. Mama loves you my sweet Jojo and misses you. Daddy, Jenny and Hobbie (Sap) and the babies do too. I think sometimes you left us to make room for the other cats, especially Honey since she was in foster care when we got her 12 days after you left for the Bridge. If that is so what a selfless and generous act you did my sweet angel! I still do not know how to post your real picture on here but I have a good one of the fridge so I can look at your beautiful face every single day my love. We love you Ericka! Forever and ever! Someday we will see you again and we cannot wait until that wonderful day!!! Today is 4/9/2009 and mama has some good and bad news. The good news is we took in The King's cat Trixie when they moved to Colorado in October. They were going to put her in an animal shelter if no one took her in and mama couldn't let that happen ya know. Their other cat Annie "Goon" went to the rainbows bridge since she was getting old and frail. Trixie is the same age as Dodger and looks just like her except smaller. I bet you are friends with Annie since you lived on the same street. Mama felt like she knew both girls since she would care for them when their old family was out of town. Trixie Too is a cutie pie but she does fight some (mostly with Honey) and has been known to pee once in awhile, mostly when mama goes out of town. (She peed a lot when we first brought her home but has gotten better.) So now they are four babies in the house but no one will ever replace you my sweet Ericka Jo. I think of you all the time and look at your picture on the fridge. Now for some terrible news. I came home today from exercise class and your daddy told me JT was found in a neighbor's backyard and some animal got him, probably a coyote. Poor sweet JT, mama is broken- hearted. I saw him yesterday, he watched me drive down the street and he was a few houses down. Daddy said he saw him when he got home from work. All the neighbors are upset and the one who found him took him to be cremated so we can put him by our tree just like you Jojo. One of the neighbors wants some of his asses too so we will share him with them since they took care of him too. I pray he went quickly and did not suffer. Of course if he had been ours from the beginning he would never have been outside with no claws to defend himself. The saddest thing to me is we knew he was born in April of 2000 according to his records and awhile back I had your daddy pick a day to be his birthday and he picked April 8th which was yesterday. So he may have passed on his birthday and possibly the day after. He was nine just like you Jojo. Mama will male him a residency too. Please please Ericka, welcome him to the bridge, mama wants you to be together with him. I love you so much Ericka, I miss you! Today you have been been gone for seven years my sweet angel. The day I had to say goodbye to you was the hardest day I ever suffered thru. Mama misses you and J.T. so much baby girl Your sister Jenny is still going strong even tho she is thinner now and sleeps most of the time. When I bring out a toy she still plays like she is still young. She is 16 now and still crazy about your daddy. Honey, Dodger and Trixie keep her company but I know she misses you. I tell her you are always with us and that you watch over her every single day. Daddy and I talk about you and how much we miss your beautiful face. We love you and miss you my sweet Jo-Jo! I miss sleeping with you snuggled up next to me. Play with J.T. and all the other sweet babies that are at the bridge baby. One day mama, daddy, Jenny and and the other kitties will be with you again. Be happy my beautiful girl. Wow, I can't believe you went to the bridge and a better life eight years ago. Time goes by so unbelievably quickly. I think of you and J.T. often. Your daddy and I will always miss you my sweet beautiful girl even tho we have four sweet girls with us here. Your sweet sister Jenny is 17 now and I wonder how much time she has left here with us before she joins you at the bridge. Most days she seems pretty good but she has slowed down a lot and i know she has to be getting tired. We have been giving here wet food every morning to try to keep some weight on her and if we sleep later than usual she will cry for that food to come her way. Christmastime always brings memories of you and how when the stockings would start to fall off the mantle how you would stare up at them. Honey's big fluffy tail also makes me think of you and how your tail was very similar. I will always have that picture of you on the fridge so i can always seen your beautiful face my baby girl. I finally have a scanner so maybe I can figure out how to post your picture now. I'd love to show everyone how pretty you were and will always be. I love you Ericka Jo! Mama and Daddy miss you. I hope you and J.T. are best friends and that you will keep your eye out for Jenny and the other girls to join you one day. Be at peace my angel.

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