Inspired by Bob Hanson’s “Running with words” column, I’m going to try something similar. “Thinking about thoughts” will be about random things I think about or see happen during the week. (P.S. I started this column to talk about random stuff, but it eventually just ended up with me writing about my cats. I hope you like cats.)
Cats. As a lot of our customers know, we have an office kitty, Snickers. In addition to keeping customers occupied, she is always getting into stuff. When I’m trying to do tear sheets for our advertisers, she thinks it’s time to lay down on the newspapers like it’s her own personal sleeping mat. Another thing, she sheds relentlessly. If I pet her, my hand is full of cat fur that does not like to go away. How am I supposed to get any work done?
Hermione. This is the name of our cat at home. If I ever think Snickers is a pain, I don’t have to go far to be reminded how good we have it. Hermione is the daughter of the first cat in my life, Gyzmo. She recently passed away, a few days after New Years Day and it was a really tough experience to go through losing my first pet. I really loved that cat; she was the friendliest cat I have ever encountered in my entire life.
Gyzmo. My first cat knew exactly how I was feeling everyday. If I was ever feeling sick she would come up right next to me, if I was laying down, right below me and just plant herself there, knowing she would make me feel better. I remember one time, I was really sick, and I didn’t want to move. It was bad, I was dizzy, and felt like I was metaphorically going to die. The only thing that made me feel better was Gyzmo. She laid right there the entire time and somehow, I manage to fall asleep. When I woke up, she was still in the exact same spot. Purring away.
The way we got Gyzmo is an interesting story. We were on the way back from a baseball game. I believe it was one of Nathan’s games (my brother) and my dad asked if we wanted to stop out at his cousin’s farm. This was a great idea; they had a huge barn to play in! I couldn’t have been more than 5 or 6. When we finished climbing in the hay we came back into the house. While we were getting ready to leave, Ray mentioned how they had a couple stray cats running around that were cute as heck. Before he managed to finish his sentence my dad was hammering on about how we didn’t want any pets. After we all three tried to beg, he was adamant about no cats. To this day, I owe my sister Jessica all the credit in the world for what she did next. My sister Jess took my dad aside and talked with him alone. Within minutes we were on our way with two of the cutest little animals I had ever laid my eyes on.
Panther. One of the cats was all black, and Gyzmo was a striped zigzag of white and black mixed in a perfect pattern. My mom stopped by to see them that night and we all decided it was only fair if she got one of our new guests. She got Panther and we got Gyzmo. Panther died a few years ago, she got sick and just like Gyzmo, they went pretty quickly into Kitty Heaven.
I could write thousands of words about Gyzmo and Hermione and I will probably write about them again, but I have teared up enough for one afternoon. It’s not easy to write about my first best friend that was a part of my life for quite literally as long as I can remember. She was in my life for 14 years, and was by my side through every sickness, sad spell, and happy moment of my life. I will never forget her perfect constant purr, and her soft fur. She will never be forgotten. Rest in peace Gyzmo.
Thought for the day: cherish your pets while they’re still around.