Farewell Ezmarelda
1993 - 2010
I told my sister yesterday that I am now certifiable -- I not only talk to cats but now I talk to dead cats. I patted each of the beautiful boxes that hold the ashes of my Buddy who left me 8 months ago and now my beautiful little Ezzie, who left me just a month ago, and told them I miss them and that little Sadie, now left alone, misses them too.
My Ezzie was the epitome of a cat. She was agile, smart, brave, and loving but usually only on her terms. I used to say with a smile that she allowed me to live here. She was a beautiful, sleek black and white and was definitely the matriarch among the cats. Even with Buddy, who outweighed her by 20 pounds, she was the boss.
Ezzie would reprimand the other cats but usually after lovingly grooming them. If Bud, who loved being brushed, was being brushed, she would butt in, but only in a "drive-by" sort of action -- just because she knew she could. She really didn't like being brushed; this was simply a show of authority.
My beautiful "Ezziemarelda Little Girl Kitty Kitty" as I called her sometimes, knew I was in charge, but we had a wonderful game that we played almost every day to challenge that. She would come and stand in front of me and meow relentlessly until I got up to see what she wanted. We would then take a walk through the house as she stopped to rub against the doorway, the cupboard, the baker's rack, and each of the items she declared to be hers. When she was done, she simply walked away, leaving me in the middle of the room, satisfied that I understood her ownership of these items.
I had begun to tell her, while we sat together, that we were getting to be little old ladies together. She had been diagnosed with diabetes shortly after Buddy died and it was all downhill from there. It was difficult to control her blood sugar and her insulin dosage. The disease ravaged her 17 year old body and at the end, her kidneys failed and she was unable to stand after only a day of seeming to stagger a bit.
I slept on the couch that last night and held her on my belly the entire night. We cuddled and I cried. I knew I was losing my sweet, tough Ezziemarelda Little Girl Kitty Kitty.
My little dynamo, who would challenge me for a piece of pork chop, was going to leave my life much emptier than we could imagine.
Little Sadie gained a bit of weight after our big boy, Buddy passed -- now she seems to want a bit of "people food" when I eat, like Ezzie did -- something she never did before. Is this her way of remembering her friends? I'm not sure, but life is almost too easy without the challenges of these two beautiful friends of 15 and 17 years. I think Sadie thinks so too.
We're moving on with each other -- both of us a little bored and a bit lonely for our pals. But at least they are together at Rainbow Bridge, healthy, happy, and waiting for Sadie and me.