Rest in Peace, Stan

When I woke up and got out of bed this morning, I never imagined it would be the day that I had to bury our old cat, Stan.

I guess I just never really saw him growing old like he did. It still feels like it was just yesterday that he was the kitten of the house, back when Charlie and Velcro were still running around. He was such a skinny little thing back then, as he always followed Charlie around. It wasn't too long before he really fattened up, though, and before we knew it, he winded up becoming the senior cat in a house overflowing with cats. But he didn't just grow in size, but also in heart, as, even being the eldest cat, he never did lose that kitten-like innocence of his.

He was just always such a happy, carefree kitty, the one cat who all other cats could get along with, who never picked on or started trouble with anyone else. He was just the sweetest thing, and he never let up his whole life. But I guess that, though he remained youthful in spirit his whole life, time eventually had to catch up with him, and the past few weeks have been really rough.

He gradually began to decline in health, which was heartbreaking to watch, and even his girlfriend ended up leaving him in the end, right when he needed her most, that bitch. (Or perhaps he had asked her to leave, so that she wouldn't have to see him in his weakened state, in which case she's not a bitch.) But just last week, one night before I left for my trip this weekend in Alabama, I was about to go to bed when I heard a weakened version of Stan's high pitched meowing at my door.

I opened it up to find him sitting there, calling for me. And though I typically don't allow cats in my room these days, I scooped him up and brought him to bed with me, where he just purred and purred the night away. So even in the end, though he was suffering, it is at least a little comforting to know that even so, there still was that happy spirit residing somewhere within him.

Stan was a great cat, and he lived a great, happy life. And though he's gone now in the physical world, his legacy will continue to live on as I chronicle his own story within my Velcro: The Ninja Kat series, so that he may warm the hearts of everyone else who reads about his sweet, loving nature.

Rest in peace, Stan. You were one of the good ones.