Joy 20

Boy, what a day.  Bittersweet.

Miss Addie officially turns 7, and so I picked up Nolie from school and then we picked Addie up from school, and took her to lunch at her favorite restaurant, Noodles:

So fun.

I took the kids back to school, and when I got home, I found that PruPru had vomited again on the bed.  She's not holding down food anymore, her tumor has grown gigantic, and she's starting to have more frequent anaphylactic symptoms.  So E. and I have decided that, unless the vet gives us a reason otherwise, we will say goodbye to her on Friday morning.  Or, I should say, Eric will say goodbye to her on Friday morning.

I had to leave this afternoon for San Francisco for a workshop, so I had to say goodbye to her today.

Suck.

I'm going to write these words for me and my cat now.

Pru.  Dear Prudence.  You have been such a gift to me.  You have been my constant friend and companion for 11 years.  You were here before my husband, before my babies, before my PhD, before my "career," before I learned who I was.  You were my family when I felt all alone.  I remember you as a kitten, jumping from the floor to the top of the curtain rod without even trying.  I remember how despondent you were when Migi died, and how pissed when we tried to replace him with Sadie.  You have always been a great cat.  A wonderkitty.

You were, and are, perfect.

I have your face memorized--the soft white of your chin, the coarse stripes above your eyes--your purr beats with my heart, your spirit full of love and light.  I'm so grateful to have had you in my life, to have felt the weight of you on my chest these last few months while you have been sick, and somehow you have still been able comfort me while I cried, desperately missing you already.  You have been one of my many sisters on this crazy-ass path, and I'm going to miss you so much.  Thank you for all the joy and comfort you have brought me.  You, Pru, are a joy.