Dust to Dust

We received the remains of our lemon kitty Marquis this week.  It felt a little unreal to drive down to the animal hospital we had been so often, only this time without the uncertainty of what was going to happen.  We had his remains individually cremated---we had discussed burying him, but since we live in a condo with no outdoor area, we had no good spot.  And if we eventually end up moving away, we could always keep him with us.  Plus, he was never an outdoor cat to begin with.  They placed his ashes in a nice wooden box that we can keep with us forever.

 Marquis sitting in his favorite spot one last time

I miss his charm and good lucks.  Everyone who's met him has mentioned what a beautiful and sweet cat he was.  I miss his big blue eyes and his big paws with six toes on each foot.

I miss how he would follow us everywhere.  He never liked being alone and always wanted to be near people.

I miss how he used to come up and wake us up every morning to play.  I miss how he used to come down the stairs and greet us when he heard us come home from work.  I miss how he would then climb halfway up the stairs, stop, and look back and wait for us to follow him up.  If we didn't, he would come back down and nudge us forward.

I miss how he would twist, turn, and twitch in pleasure as you pet him.  I miss how he used to roll over for a belly scratch and then grab our hands with both paws to lick them all over.

I miss how he used to go crazy playing with rubber bands.

I miss how he loved car rides.  He loved to sit up and stare out the window as we drove.

I miss how he enjoyed water and even let us wash him in the shower.  I miss how he would chase his tail in the bathtub.

I miss how we could clip his claws with no fuss.  He would just sit there politely until it was done.

I miss how he would sit in the sink and wait for us to turn on the tapwater to drink from.

I miss how he would lie on us and knead us with his front paws all night.  If I would call him, he would come sit on me.  Then if my wife called him, he would jump over and sit on her.  We could keep doing this over and over again until he would get dizzy.

I miss how no matter what time of the day, you would always find him sleeping in a sunny spot.  I miss his yawns after a long nap.  I miss how he stretched first his front legs and then his back legs when he got up.

I miss his quiet, polite meow voice.  He was never whining or demanding.  He wouldn't complain if he was hungry---he would just sit patiently in front of us food bowl.

I miss how he quietly sat and begged us for food when we were eating dinner. Although he could, he never jumped on the table while we were eating.  He just waited until we were done (except the one time he swiped away my wife's chicken wing with neither of us noticing).

I miss how sweet he was.  He didn't have an aggressive bone in his body and he never hissed or striked out at anyone, even strangers.

I miss our kitty.