For three years, that cat was my baby. She was the friendliest cat imaginable, more dog-like than cat-like. She'd come running to greet me when I got home from work. When she slept at night, some part of her needed to be touching me. I even had one night when I woke up and she was wrapped around the top of my head like a hat! She had free reign in my apartment and gladly took it. When John entered the picture, she became our baby, but with a few limits on where she could go (no more counter tops or table top for her--TV trays being an exception!).
After Brennan arrived, things began to rightly change. She became less "baby" and more "cat". Once Owen arrived, it really changed. We had also moved into a smaller house with less space for her to have some sort of respite from two small boys. Once Brennan and Owen grew a bit and learned how to treat her, we started seeing her out and about with the family more. But she had also grown older and with age came some health problems. She developed a significant heart murmur and started throwing up a lot.
(Brennan at age 2. Of the two boys, he's the one who loved her the most.)
The day after we pulled in to Rochester, she ended up at the vet with blood in her eye likely related to her heart issues. Once we got settled into our new house and she started to get familiar with the place, we started to notice a small change in her behavior. She began following us around everywhere, wanting to be with us and near us and on us anytime a lap was available. Looking back, we believe it was her way of saying good-bye.
September 20, 2014. When we were getting breakfast around, we noticed Esther curled up in a rocking chair. After calling her name with no response, we discovered she had passed away peacefully in her sleep. We were able to bury her at my grandparents' farm which was a nice bookend to her life since that was her very first home after I adopted her.
Closing this 14 year chapter was pretty rough. Despite the difficulties of the last few years with her, she was deeply loved and is deeply missed.
(Yes, her nickname was "The Dude")
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