Greetings!
I met her in the Spring of 93. I didn't want to meet her. In fact I tried not to meet her, but her persistence made that impossible. I first became aware of her after hearing faint whispers coming from behind a pile of boxes in my garage/Studio. When I first saw her and her three siblings several thoughts flashed through my head. The first thought was, "I can't let Caroline and the kids know this or we're going to have 5 more cats in the family. My second thought was, maybe the Mom will nurse them and they will go away. I knew better but I really didn't want to deal with this inconvenience. I've always been more of a dog person. To me cats seemed to have an attitude of "give me my food and leave me the hell alone". Anyway after two days the faint meows grew weaker and I noticed only one of the kittens remained. She was solid black, very weak and tiny. Caroline bottle fed her and we named her Abbi. You're probably thinking, "why are you telling me all of this?" Well Abbi died yesterday. She was 18. That's 90 something in cat years. She died peacefully with her people holding her. You don't live with a family member for 18 years and not be affected when they are gone. Do cats and dogs go to heaven? Silly question to ponder some say. My Mom's thought was, "If heavens a place where we reunite with loved ones my pets have to be there." I know these are sentimental musings and I'm well aware of the theological ramifications of all of this so please don't lecture me. Yesterday my mind was flooded with memories of Abbi with the kids. The girls dressing her up in doll clothes when they were little. The graceful way she handled our move across the country. Her affectionate greetings in the morning and so many more. Here's what I took away from yesterday. Life is precious, any life. Savor every moment with loved ones even the ones with fur. I love you guys, God Bless, Don This little Video says it all | 
