4 Years Later..Still Heartbroken

Mommy Kitty:

This was originally posted on my first blog 4 years ago this month
I can't believe that it's already been 4 years. Where does the time go?
I know that I now have 2 wonderful, silly kitties that I love more than anything, but, my Calli will always be extra special to me. I still miss him terribly.

It's funny the things I remember when I think about him now.
The way that every night when I would get up to brush my teeth, that he understood that meant it was bedtime, and he would go to the bedroom door and wait for me.
The way that he would NEVER check to see if he actually still had food in his bowl..he would just start crying to be fed. So I would have to pick him up and SHOW him his bowl.
The way that he loved almost any food on earth. Brussell Sprouts were the real shocker.
The way that he when he would come to bed, he would have to jump up on the right side of the bed, walk around the top of my head and then curl up in the crook of my left arm....without fail, every night.
I try to think about these things now and not about how bad his health got those last few months. Sometimes remembering that is still too much. He was a very brave kitty.
I just hope he is happy and being fed lots of food wherever he is right now.

'Callis Story'(original post)
I was 13 years old. Both me and my brother, Mike wanted cats. It had been a while since my last kitty, Mollie had passed away and it was time to make the house turn into KittyVille again. We drove to Saline, where a family had put a FREE KITTENS ad in the paper. We walked in the door and there were probably 7 kittens galavating around the house, as kittens do. We both picked one that we liked and were about to walk out the door to take them home when I turned to make one last look around the place. In the doorway to the kitchen stood one more kitten that I hadn't seen before. He was all black with the face of a little angel. (Ok, I know ALL kittens have those faces) As soon as I saw him, I dropped the kitten I had in my hands and knew HE was the one that I was supposed to take home. And man, was I right. I named him Calli. (Calliope Priscilla...don't ask, it's a long story)

My late teen years were filled with both divorces and more divorces and deaths in my family. Not the best of times you could say...but we all survived. Calli was there through it all..making me smile with his brilliant green eyes and never ending affections.

Those people that say dogs are the loyal ones, never met Calli. He brought new meaning to the term "Mommas Boy." I think we got along so well because I have always been the type to need to maul the cats that I have (much to my previous cats chagrin) and he was the kind of cat that needed have 24 hour attention and love.

Now, things weren't always easy for Calli either. He went through 3 rounds of having 'crystals in the bladder' which is pretty painful and can be fatal. But each time he would be taken to the vet and go through the treatment and improve and get back to his old self. These vet visits were always preceeded by the vet telling me each time with wonder in his voice, how he had never seen a cat that was so easy and friendly to help. (I guess all those years of Calli being mauled helped the vet in the end)

When I was 20 I started seeing this guy named, Dan. Months later, me and my best friend Cara moved into a little house next to the house that Dan and his room mate, Doug were living in. After living there for a while we all decided to have a party. Lots of people showed up and there was lots of alcohol consumed. During this party, Doug having drank too much accidentally stepped on Callis tail..making him let out a huge howl. I went to check on Calli who had run into the bedroom...only to hear yelling a minute later. I go back out in the living room in time to see Dan trying to start a brawl with Doug...telling him, that he can't mess with Calli because he loves the little guy. (as you may have well guessed..Dan was pretty schnockered himself) After that, I honestly had no choice. I had to marry this guy. It was like it had been set in stone.

As mellow with people as Calli is...other cats..that has been a different story. A few years ago, I had a neighbor who I hung out with a lot. She had just gotten a kitten (now a few months old) and we decided to get Calli and Harley together for a play date. Well....it didn't go too well. Calli didn't seem to care one way or the other but I think he must give out some aura of superiority or something because poor Harley became so nervous, he ended up throwing up all over in my apartment. There had been another cat named "Mookie" that always tried to follow me home from the laundry room...so one day I decided that I would let Mookie walk in the door with me and see what happened. Now Mookie probably outweighted Calli by a good 6-7 lbs. which is a lot for a cat. Mookie took one look at Calli sitting on the couch and ran for the hills. This really leads me to believe that there is a hidden cat language or hierarchy that we all just don't know about yet.

When Dan would be working long hours...it was always fun to make up and sing songs for Calli. He seemed to like this, no matter how terrible I sung. When you would sit down on the couch, or where ever, Calli had this habit or trying to stick his head between you and the couch..somehow he thought that if only he could get under you, he would be all warm and comfy. I guess he didn't understand the fact that he would also be crushed. I still don't understand what THAT was all about. Tiff and Calli. Calli and Tiff. You can't think of one without the other. Ever since I got Calli...vacation for me have been hell. I hated leaving him for any reason. When I would have to sleep somewhere other than home, I would have to put a pillow over my legs so I could tell myself that Calli was there.

The past few years, I think have been the hardest. Dealing with moving away from friends and family, 2 miscarraiges and subsequent infertility. All of the nights that I would be upset and sit crying..just seeing little Cals face would always put a smile on mine. Through it all, I knew, even if I never had my own biological child, that I would always have Mr. Calli. And I do, and will always have my Calli. Last November, Calli was diagnosed with cancer and these past few months had been the worst. Now that it is over though, I have to say I will even miss having to wake up multiple times in the night to either feed him or just to make sure he was ok and comfortable. I will just try to take solace in the 18 kittyrific years that we had together. As hard we they were at times, it was always bareable because Calli was there.



I LOVE YOU MUNKIN!!

Calliope Priscilla

11-19-85/03-26-04