Celebrating A Special Bond

Smokie on December 30th

Early Thursday morning, I lost a someone special. Smokie, my 13-year-old tortoiseshell cat, passed away. We had a special bond that I can only describe as once-in-a-lifetime.

Not long after graduating from high school in 2003, we were allowed to get a kitten. So we found an ad in the local newspaper for free kitten. One day in June, we went to it, but we quickly found out it was 2 kittens. The conditions they lived in were horrible. He had them in a shed with just wood chips as bedding and water. They weren’t even old enough to walk properly. So we took the siblings, one of which I promptly named Smokie.

Over the years, Smokie and I bonded like I’ve never bonded with another animal. She was always by my side when I was upset or sick. We went through our first tornado together. Whenever my mom was in the hospital, she would sleep on my bed. She would even paw at my face every morning so I could get up and feed her. In her last years, if I was sitting in bed, she would come in and get in my lap. While she loved attention from my mom, dad, or sister, she preferred me.

In her last days, she hardly left my side and I am glad to have had her in life. The impact she made in my life immeasurable, and even though I’ll always be reminded of her whenever I look at Brother or Sister (her two 7-year-old Siamese babies), I know that the amount of love she had to offer was passed down to them.

Smokie w/ Brother & Sister when they were babies

Some may think “But she’s just a cat”, and while that may be true, animals and humans can form special bonds others can’t understand.

I miss her terribly, but I am happy in the knowledge that she had a wonderful life.

Have you ever formed such a bond with a pet?