Goodbye Kitty

The last of my Chicago kitties has passed on as of Friday. Unfortunately, it was Christian who found him and came up to tell me "mama, I have something very sad to tell you. I think BJ died. His eye is open and he's not moving, even when I called his name." Sure enough, our Blackjack was no more. :( Goodbye Kitty.

In the spirit of celebrating life, I will tell the short story of when we found him. It was Halloween 1992. My boyfriend Paul and I pulled in to my driveway to find my mother standing awkwardly in the backyard screaming something to my brother who was on his way to a soccer game. I got out of the car and she was asking somebody in a panic to go get the cat carrier. What on Earth was she doing? I thought something happened to my black cat Tiffani, but couldn't figure out the logic of what was happening, since Tiff was an indoor only cat. Why would she be outside? After the confusion settled, my mom explained to me that this cat was hurt, not ours (yet) and in our backyard needing help. She was going to take him to the vet.

I was on my way to work that day at the mall, so I told her to call me to let me know the scoop on the cat. Turns out he was an adult, black short haired male with a shattered pelvis. We suspected either he got hit by a car, or our animal-hater of a neighbor did something awful to hurt this cat.

We named Blackjack.... Blackjack, because he was black (duh) and we love Las Vegas. BJ stayed with us after his shattered pelvis surgery and my mom worried and worried that he would want to get outside after his recovery. The vet assured her that a cat who is being fed, will always come back! Against my mom's wishes I let Blackjack outside after his three week recovery. Not only had his condition drastically improved, but there was a shine to his coat and a gentle docile personality emerged. Of course he came back, and we appointed him and indoor cat from then on. I firmly believe that God has a list of "suckers" that he sends stray, hurt and abandoned animals to. Our family has got to be in the top 100 of that list.

When we found BJ it was 1992 and he was labeled an adult male then. We figure he was about 18 years old. BJ lived in Illinois with my family until I got married, when he came with Frank & I to Pennsylvania and then moved once more to Ohio. He's been with me through a husband, three kids and two moves. He's watched three other furry friends go before him and he's been a nurturing father figure to some other cats through the years that I've brought home and found new homes for. I will not miss his cat hair all over the house, his bellows from the basement when I FINALLY had some quiet time, or his vomit all over my storage room and basement carpet. However, he did stick with me through good times and bad. Rest in peace Blackjack. See you again someday old friend!