Oh, Whitey Gone to Rest (Written August 23,2011)

Whitey was one of our earliest. The name was hardly witty or original, for as you can see she was totally white and statuesque. Some people who saw this photo thought this was of a ceramic cat, not a real one, but it was very real. She was a pretty girl.

How old was Whitey? None of us know. The earliest picture I have of her is dated 2000, but she wasn't a kitten when we got her. She was two or three at best, maybe somewhat older. She had to have been at least 13 now. My middle daughter believes she was closer to 16.

Her early life was not easy. Somewhere in those beginning years she ended up out on the streets, on her own and not doing well. When she was rescued she was pretty beat up with a hole on the back of her neck from being attacked. She was so damaged, as it was, that she was considered non-adoptable and was about to be shipped off to be euthanized.

But The Little Woman couldn't let that happen. She told her fellow shelter workers that she would take Whitey and did. As I say, my oldest picture is 2000, so we have had her eleven years now.

As you can see, her old wounds and scars were healed and she cleaned up real purrty.

My son basically took her then as his own. For some reason she always got grief from the other cats, with the exception of a few. Reno and Christy Cat got along with her. Hobo Joe when he came also did. But most of the time she shared our son's room.

She died last night. He sat with her through the end, kept her cleaned up the last couple of days as she sank and was there holding her when she passed.

She is lying behind me in repose, as if merely asleep. Rescued from an early grave when in grave condition, she lived a good life in a loving home for the last 11 years of her life. And now she is where good cats go when they leave us.

Whitey ? - August 22, 2011 RIP