Lily Love

Today kitty heaven got a new friend.  My parents cat, Lily passed away.  I got a facebook message from my Dad letting me know.  Immediate tears followed.  I've always been really attached to the animals in my life and though I haven't lived at home in a LONG time, I still remember cuddling up with this cat and what she meant to me.

Lily's story with my family began after we moved to New Mexico.  I was REALLY sad about being in NM.  We had just moved from Germany and I was scheduled to go to college in NY.  But I was so beside myself being back in the states, that I decided to move to NM to go to college there for a year to figure out if NY was really where I wanted to be.  But after one day in the hot NM sun, I was pretty sure I hated it there.  Looking back, I don't think it was as much the state but more of my state of mind.  I was just so sad about leaving my boyfriend, my friends and everything I knew.  I started college living in temporary living quarters (on the base) and was miserable. 

One day we heard meowing outside and my mom discovered a very tiny little kitten in the HOT sun.  It was August.  She brought the kitten inside and we fed it and gave it water.  Our other cat, Tiger was boarded because we weren't allowed to have pets in the TLQ.  My Dad got home from work and he started off saying no to the idea of having another cat.  But it was too late.  My mom, brother and I were in love.  We all pleaded the case but I was particularly dramatic.  I NEEDED to have that cat.  She was going to be my reason for being happy in a time that I was anything but happy.   My Dad caved and we had ourselves a little kitten.  And since we had a cat named Tiger the obvious choice for a name would be Lily. 

Here is a very small Lily when we moved into the house in NM.  I think we were unpacking when this picture was taken.  She was even smaller when we found her.

  She was a wild kitten.  Naughty.   But for those first few difficult months in New Mexico, she was the bright spot for me.  And probably for a few other people in my family too.  

 Even though she had a long happy life with my parents, I'm sad to hear about her passing.  I will never forget her and how she helped me during a difficult transition in my life.  It's a reminder of how quickly time passes because it doesn't feel like that day we found a kitten in the sun was all that long ago. 

My hope is that Lily is now back to pestering Tiger.  Just like she did that one summer in New Mexico....