I first saw you when you were carried in the arms of a little girl who lived down the street. She was delighted by the kitten her parents had brought her for her birthday. Black as the night, she named you Midnight. When you got bigger, the little girl still carried you around, but the family seemed to forget to feed you more and more often. When you came over to our house, you found food plentiful, and you began to visit regularly. One day, the family had a turkey handing out to defrost. In your hunger, you ran off with a chunk. The man who lived there chased you and hit you over the head with a shovel. I saw it. You don't know this, but I called the Humane Society at that point - but they could do nothing without concrete proof. The whole neighbourhood knew that this man got drunk and hit his family as well as animals. All I could do was to feed you as you spent more and more time at our house.

One day, the family moved away, leaving you behind. But I doubt you really noticed, since by then, you were really our cat. When I went out to the barn to feed the horses, you followed me. In the spring, the barn swallows would swoop down on you and snip your ears - but you were determined to accompany me. You loved people - you would run up to complete strangers with that silly meow-ow-ow. No one could resist your charm! You loved to play in the leaves, and roll in the grass.

When you entered the twilight of your life, your greatest pleasure was to sleep on a warm lap. After loosing a few teeth, you tended to drool, but that did not bother us. You were a goofy but loveable kitty. One day, you sneezed and we noticed that some blood came out. We took you to the vet - and even though you didn't like needles, you liked the vet who would pet you and scratch behind your ears. The vet told us that you had a tumour or a cyst near your brain. She could not operate on it, but she said you may live for years. After that, you began to sleep more but you ate more than any of the other cats, and raced to get the prime lap spots. We usually forgot that you even had anything wrong with you. There were days when you would seem disoriented and sometimes you would have nosebleeds, but your vigour for life outshone these incidents.

On the last day of your life, you ate a hearty breakfast and had a nice nap. That afternoon, you passed away. I hope that now you are somewhere wonderful. I hope you can chase leaves and take naps on warm laps. I hope you have found Buddy, Spirit, Natasha, and the other beloved kitties who have gone with you, and that you are all basking in the sunlight somewhere, somehow.

In Loving Memory of Midnight

Copyright © Tina N.
March 21, 1998