Sweet Green Eyed Annie September 2009 - October 2017

Sweet Green Eyed Annie......quietly went to sleep on Tuesday October 3rd.  It was very hard, she was very sick a month ago, seemed to bounce back strong after treatment, but when it came again it turned into a full on staph infection.....she was too ill to save. 

Annie came into my life in the fall of 2009.  One day at work a young lady working in the front reception area called out to me, she asked if I could come to the front......she said it might sound crazy but she thought she could hear a kitten crying.  I walked up to the front & we investigated.....we found a tiny ball of fur shivering & quivering with fright under one of our cars.  A wee tiny kitten meowing piteously, lost and alone. 

We brought her in......one colleague put together a tiny shredded paper  "sand" box for her.....someone else brought in a blanket from their car....someone else donated tuna from their lunch.....someone else shared their milk with our tiny visitor.  we all came in to visit & mother the orphaned kitten......

they somehow decided that i as a relatively recent empty nester should be the one to take her home.......as much as i love kitties i was hesitant but they were smooth as silk, encouraging me/pulling out the stops.....by the end of the day i had this tiny green eyed handful in my car heading north towards Sparrow Cottage.  (why hesitant?  cause i was always so ill, barely managing to work.....a few short months shy of my last days at work...the end of my career, i worried that i wouldn't be able to really take care of anyone or anything considering how badly my own care was going......)

in the days that folowed i found myself calling her Annie.....because she was an orphan and because i love music and even musicals like Orphan Annie.......musicals are aa guilty pleasure that i don't like to admit to non musical loving haters.....

she fit easily on my upturned hand.........soft, sweet......bright green eyes taking in the world.  Annie was inquisitive, sweet, funny....curious, adorable......as soon as she could she found her way onto my desk and followed my fingers as they flew across the keyboard.  she would pounce and make me laugh even on the hardest days.  she was a pure sliver of sun.......and joy as i pushed onward to continue working despite the odds.

she would sit on my hands at times when i was typing......as if to say, take a break, you're overdoing it! rest now!  if i pushed her off my right hand, she would aim for my left, a very detemined monitor of my activities.  she knew usually before i did when it was time to stop......

she was a great comfort.....a wonderful playmate.  she used to chase after a small ball, racing to retrieve it and return it to me.  she would give chase until she was panting hard and i wondered if she knew she was a kitten and not a puppy.  i'd never known a cat to play fetch before......she was fun, alert, alive......going after life hard!

when i was ill she would lie near by......depending on the level of pain/exhaustion she would move to different places on my queen bed.  if i was very very ill she would lie at the base of the pillow on the other side of the bed, as i gained more strength & mobility she would move further on down the bed until she reached the corner.  that's how i became more aware of my own progress, she felt ok about being "on her spot" at the foot of the bed once i was doing better.  Annie was a wonder, a dear companion.....

when my fibro pain was amped up she would lie near my hips, knees or feet......she seemed to sense what was happening to me and she would lie near giving a comforting presence when i felt too alone, too on my own.  when i went through a really really rough flare during the early years of full time disability i felt that Annie had become depressed.  she stayed by my side to the point that she no longer was playing --- no longer chasing foes real or imaginary, so as soon as i was able i investigated getting Annie a friend.

that's how Rio came to live with us.......Sam joked that I was the only person he knew who would get their pet a pet.......but I knew she was too lonely and needed a pal.  Rio was 6 months old, a recommended age (for a second pet) by the vet......a very laid back little boy.  Annie is very regal (at times) --- Rio's laid back demeanor worked out perfectly. (i think he might have lived with Cheech & Chong before he came to kitty adoption day.  I worried that i had done the wrong thing getting another kitty.......Annie hissed/went on the attack --- Rio did his best to stay out of her way. I tried to monitor them, keep Rio safe........

I kept Rio in my room - kept moving his things closer to the door each day.......finally moving his things into the living room, then the kitchen and finally on the 7th day into the laundry room to join Annie to encourage them to eat their meals together, to share a litter box.......there had been some skirmishes - some loud battle cries from Annie and i feared it wouldn't work......but on that 7th Day.......Mother's day of all things, i saw something that told me it would be alright......

i saw Annie playfully bat at Rio and Rio playfully bat back at Annie.  Those batting paws said they might be ok to try playing together without murderous intent......what southern mommas often refer to as "playing pretty" when speaking of rambunctious kids that sometimes stop being bratty and for many wonderful hours simply play together........i watched my two furbuckets embrace the joy of being kitties in the moment!

before i knew it they were regularly racing around the house, zooming up the stairs......there is a second bathroom at the top, with a wooden vanity......they would open the cabinet on one side, fly through the other cabinet door......i would hear a familiar thumb thump of the two vanity doors.......then hear them tear back down the stairs......at breakneck speed.  hurtling through the universe, delighting in their race.....their youthful ability to run, play and have fun.  reminded me of Nascar.......my crazy funny Nascar racecar kitties!

they made me smile - made me laugh......they brought a lot of happy into this household.  Annie liked to sit with her paws dangling over the rungs of my dining room chairs......a totally adorable hilarious pose.......everyone who saw her do it cracked up on the spot!  the last time i saw her do this was on Monday, the day before the vet came......Debbie was here cleaning and took food & water up to Annie.  She had taken to lying in a small box inside the upstairs bathroom vanity.....too sick & disoriented at first to come out.  After she ate some food she seemed to perk up......she came downstairs to visit......meowed a bit but wouldn't let me touch her.  She put her paws over the rungs of a small antique table.......which gave Debbie & I both a big smile....  i was praying that she might rally but my heart knew she was in real trouble....my dear Annie.........

in the last few days she no longer used the litter box, ate less and less......this time when the illness returned it hit so hard & fast.....it was so awful/so intense.  ....i was very upset, scared for her......so worried......she looked so bad.....the vet couldn't come until Tuesday.  he said he felt that this was the right decision, he thought it was allergy based and yet we had no idea what caused it.....Annie had always been blessed with good health until she got sick the previous month. 

i had been crying about this - on the day the vet and his assistant were here i cried hard......they gave her a shot to sedate her, then put her to sleep.   it was so quiet, i was sick to my stomach and threw up.......crying takes too much energy...poor sweet beautiful green eyed Annie.......she was very loved!  i was too upset to talk about it, i sent sara a response to an email and told her but still haven't even told sam..........i needed to mourn her my own way. 

after she was cremated they took Annie to the pet cemetary in Bethlehem Georgia.......& scattered her ashes.

Rio has been so lost.  sitting on me or right next to me at all times the first few days......crying & confused a lot.  When it was mealtime he would cry and cry for Annie........he still is.  I sat with him while he ate the first few days cause he didn't want to eat without Annie by his side.  he's still confused, he cries and i stay nearby tidying the kitchen, to help him adjust with a little more space between us gradually during mealtimes.

Annie & Rio had a routine.......they would glance at each other and then switch bowls......as if to say, "you're  getting more than me", or "your food is probably way better".......they did this throughout each and every meal....until the food bowls were all but annihalated.  after every meal they would head to a good spot on the soft pretty dining room table rug and take a luxurious bath side by side.  then they would almost always sit by the french doors to see the world......bat at the glass for visiting birds and all the pretty yellow butterflies that come to visit the butterfly bushes by the patio.

we miss Annie very much and it will take time to mourn her, she was a wonderful kitty.......i miss the way she would seek out my hand and demand petting time.  sometimes going so far as to come under the covers and find the petting hand.......she loved having her head and neck stroked, massaged.........she loved being groomed.  the brush sent her over the top with happiness........she had the best purr........so contented, relaxed, happy. .....i really miss my Annie.......Annabelle when she went rogue.....sort of the way a parent calls a kid by their first and middle names when they are up to no good, that was why (& when) I called Annie Annabelle....she knew when she was being a stinker.  last night Rio slept on Annie's spot on the front corner of the bed for the first time, i started crying.  i miss her........Rio misses her.......we're trying hard, but we're still lost without her......