This is my first-born, Dagney. She was our first 'furry child', we called her. She was part of our family for 17 years. We've been married for 20 this year and she was with us for the first 17. She stayed with me all the time when we were at home. She would sleep on top of the couch while we were gone during the day or at the corner of our bed. There was always a white circle of fur, so she could never keep her favorite sleeping 'spots' hidden. I always thought she was pretty smart for a cat. She always came when I called her and when she was out of food or water, she always stood by her bowl and meowed to obnoxious levels in order to get my attention.
If I was sick, she would always lay on me or lay beside me in the bed or on the couch. I can remember waking up in the middle of the night sweating because she was curled up in the space I created when I slept on my side and then my husband was on the other side surrounding me in tropical temperatures. The day we finally had to put her to sleep was one of the saddest days of our lives. Both of us cried the whole day. Greg buried her in the middle of the two dogwood trees we have in front of the house.
I thought about her today, because I stayed home from school. I've been dragging with a virus since Thursday and needed to stay home a day and just rest. A year after we lost Dagney, I finally gave in to everybody else in the family and consented to getting another cat. I had been relentless in denying our household another furry child because it was so horrible when we lost her. I decided that although losing her was one day at the end of her life, the rest of her life was really great and she spent it all with us. This fact made me think we could love another kitty and keep it off the street and out of harm's way by giving it a happy and safe life with us.
The opportunity presented itself around late October, when Cassidy's aide at school, Mrs. Hunter, told Cassidy that her momma cat was going to have kittens. They talked about the momma cat and her kittens every day for weeks. Cassidy would come home talking about it. As it got closer to the date, Cassidy asked if she could go see the babies when they were born. Since it's really hard to say no to that type of request, I told her we would. They were born on December 4th, of 2009 and we went to see them a few weeks later after they'd opened their eyes. There were three black and white, 'cute-as-a-button' kittens. Of course, what kittens aren't? After that, Cassidy wanted one. Knew that was coming. The kittens would go to the pound if they couldn't find homes for them, but since there were only three and extremely cute, they were hopeful.
He likes to lay over my shoulders when I'm sitting on the couch working on the laptop. He can't lay there long now because he's so heavy. So back to today....
Darcy stayed with me in the bed all day today. He slept by my feet and between me and the laptop for most of the day. He sleeps on my pillow with me at night too. I couldn't help but think about how much joy he's brought us just in the first year of his life. We laugh at his energy. He impresses us with his 'fetching' capabilities as well as his ability to open doors and drawers to get a hair tie out so he can play with it. We laugh at his wanting to pounce on everything that may or may not move. Sometimes, he plays a little rough. He's still young and his claws and teeth are still pretty sharp, but for the most part, he's a great addition to the family. I'm thankful every day that I gave this little guy a chance to be a part of our lives. I love my boy!
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