Boomer, You Are Still Loved

It's kind of a sad day today. One year ago, to this very day, I lost a very dear friend of mine. His name was Boomer, and he had been with me for 13+ years. He was my cat.

But he was also much more.

You might be thinking . . . it's only a cat. But when you spend that many years with someone (or something), you become rather attached.

Joe and I still talk about him to this day. All the things he used to do. His little quirks, his way of winning us over, not matter how naughty he had been. The way he used to wake us up in the middle of the night with his wet nose in an ear.

He was a spoiled cat, that's for sure. When it was just us, he used to jump up on the counter or the table. And we'd let him. We bought him the best food. When it came to Boomer, there was no expense spared.

Some things about him . . . he hated to ride in the car. He rarely meowed (In fact, when we first got him as a kitten, he barely meowed at all. My mom said it was because he wore out his meow crying for his mom - he was found abandoned by a dumpster). But when he had to ride in the car (either to the vet, or if we had to take him to my mom's when we went on vacation) he cried the whole way.

Like I said above, he was abandoned by a dumpster. We got him from the Pope County Humane Society when he was just a kitten. He was actually my birthday present from Joe. I was still in high school, and my mom and dad didn't know that he was coming to live with us. My dad was asleep when we brought him home, and the next day I was sitting on the couch with Boomer by my side. My dad walked through the family room - and stopped. "What is that?" he said. Luckily, everyone fell in love with him immediately, and he was a welcome addition to the family.

Joe was not a cat person before Boomer. In fact, I think he wasn't too willing to "give" him to me for my birthday. But just like everyone else, Joe fell in love with Boomer. And after 13+ years, he became the third point to our family triangle.

At the end, he was really sick. He had been having some kidney and digestive issues for some time. We'd take him to the vet (which, he hated of course), but he never really seemed to get better. Age has a lot to do with his demise, but health problems contributed.

Finally, it got to the point where nothing could be done. I remember when I got the call from Joe. I was in class, but stepped out because I knew it couldn't be good news. Joe told me what the vet had said - that it was probably best to put him to sleep. He would take him into the vet the following day (a Friday), but it was most likely that it would be time to take that step.

The next day, we made the decision. I was so torn. I wished we could wait until I could be there to say goodbye, but that didn't seem fair to Boo. Joe had his mom take Boomer into the vet because he wanted to say goodbye to him at the house.

It was time, and Boo knew it. He hated to go into the cat carrier - seriously, we had to stuff him in there kicking and screaming (probably because he knew he would be going in the car), but this time, he walked right in. By himself.

That makes me cry every time I think it about it.

So, on 8/8/08, Boomer left us. He really knew how to go out in style - all 8's like that.

I could say so much more, but it's still a bit too much all at once. Regardless, I wanted to share Boomer's story with you - on this, his one-year mark of being gone.

Boomer, you are still loved.