Seven Months & First Xmas at the Bridge

Sigh... Poor Mumsy - its been a really hard year for her. I wish I could be with her and make her feel less sad.

I've been at the Bridge for seven months now - I think it got easier for Mums for a while but then other things started going badly and then it got harder for her to miss me so much.

This is her first Christmas without me since I was adopted. That is really tough for her - I remember how we all were together at grandpawrents house for the last two. I was so scared to be in a new place, I mostly just hid the first year. I got stuck in the ceiling - twice! - and stayed in the basement mostly. The second year everyone was prepared and I didn't get a chance to get stuck in the ceiling - too bad! And I was more used to grandpawrents' house - I even came upstairs and birdwatched by the glass doors with Marty - grandmaw sent a nice picture of that to Mumsy recently, but she had to warn Mumsy that it was coming. Mums cried anyway but she was so happy to have the picture. It is still hard for her to look at pictures of me. I know that doesn't mean she loves me any less though - sometimes its just too hard for humans.

I miss you Mums, but I am not lonely or starved for presents - its a constant party at the Bridge and Xmas is OVER THE TOP! Sandy Claws is coming soon and he's going to be extra special good to all the kitties who are spending their first Xmas at the Bridge. I will try to get away from all the festivities and give Mums a secret snuggle though, just so she knows how much I love her!

Two Months At the Bridge - I Miss You Ollie!

Hi Ollie - Tomorrow will be your two-month anniversary at the Bridge, as I'm sure you know. It seems like I miss you more every day. I was looking at some photos of you and Marty that are on my phone while I was riding the bus to work and I almost started crying right on the bus.

Your little sister Mischa who you sent to us is putzing around the desk as I write this - trying to attack the cursor and stuff. She also tries to attack the TV if something is moving on it. I think she is adjusting ok and Marty is finally getting used to her. She is giving him a regular workout every day and he is starting to chase her back. :)

I just wanted to let you know that we are all thinking of you and missing you. I can't believe you have only been gone for two months. It seems like we have gone through a year's worth of changes since you went to the Bridge. Sometimes I feel so guilty about everything - I feel like I should have noticed your appetite loss sooner - maybe things would have been ok if I had. I know that is silly and I know that we did everything possible to help you get better - FIP just isn't curable ... but it feels so unfair. I know that you are happy and safe at the Bridge, playing with all your friends, but I still wish that you were here with me.

Missing you so much,
Mums & the family

I Sent My Family A Kitten!

Her name is Mischa and she is a tabby (brown, black, white and grey) and she is gorgeous and sweet and nuts! She already is in love with Marty and I know that he will love her too, once he gets used to her.

She is teething right now and always bites mumsy and popsy's fingers when they pet her and she gets too excited. She purrs like a motorboat!

I am so glad that I could help mums and Mischa meet each other. I know that I will always have a special place in Mumsy's heart and I know that she still misses me a whole lot. But they needed a little spitfire to cheer them up and to get Marty running around again. And little Mischa needed a great home to go to.

I might not be writing a lot of diary entries for a while now. I am pretty busy having fun at the Bridge and watching over all my human and feline charges that I have undertaken to protect. Plus it is so hard for mums to type for me here now. It just makes her cry all the time. But I will still be lurking a lot and I'm sure I will be speaking up at pawties and in the forums.

I don't know if all my Catster friends will automatically become Mischa's Catster pals, so I'm asking that all my buddies, especially my Bridge buddies, please become MishMish's friends once mums gets her page up and running!

To Ollie, Love Mums

To: Ollie
From: Mums

Hi Ollie-kins! Just wanted to write a little note for you, letting you know how much I miss you. Things are ok here. The move went fine (thanks for watching over us!), the problems with the apartment have been fixed and our stuff is unpacked now, so it finally feels a little more like home. My first week of work was ok and I am excited to go back on Monday, which is a good sign!

Marty is doing ok, though he seems really lonely with both me and pops gone at work during the day. He has his own bathroom here - I think you would have liked it. He is finally eating normally after going on a mini-diet after the move. He is so affectionate all the time - he misses you so much. I think he has started taking on some of your quirks in honor of you - he tries to drink out of water glasses and he is a lot more friendly with strangers than he used to be - just like you were! He was even friendly to popsy's sister, who also sends her love to you. I know how close you two got when she cat-sitted for you and Marty last summer.

Mischief and Mayham's parents sent flowers, which Marty did NOT eat. I know you saw them from the Bridge, but I'll try to put a photo up on your page. Burnham Park sent the nicest card - all the vets and vet techs wrote messages about you and Mart and your exploits. Today we got a card from the Chicago Anti-Cruelty group letting us know that one of Popsy's co-workers made a donation in honor of you. It was so sweet that Popsy and I started crying in the elevator, where we opened the mail.

I miss you so much, my little Bean. I know that you visit me, especially right before I fall asleep. I think of you every day. I wish I could see you go scurrying around the house or hear your raspy little meows again. I wish you were here to curl up next to me or hang out on the desk with me while I'm on the computer. You are my best little friend and I wish you didn't have to go to the Bridge. Sometimes I still can't even believe it. I know that you are healthy again and the other Bridge kitties are taking care of you until we can be together again one day, but I still miss you so much. Meep meep.

Love,
Mums

Thinking Of Sending My Family A Kitty

I am scheming to send my family a kitty. I know that I can never be replaced, but my mums is hurting and sad right now and I am worried that Marty is starting to get lonely. Both mums and pops will go back to work full-time outside the house on Monday and Marty will be all alone (excepting my visits to him, of course!). I think he needs a playmate. I'm thinking of a little girl - mums always dreamed of finding us a sister.

I've Been Tagged! - Part 3

Okay, I've been tagged by Autumn to list seven things about myself that maybe you don't know. My mums is typing this, so it's in her words.

(1) "Vavaling" - At night, when it was time for bed, Ollie used to run frantically through the house, trying to get away from us when we would try to bring him into bed. This was funny and weird because he totally didn't mind being "caught" at any other time of day and would come into bed on his own about 15 minutes later. We called it "vavaling" because "Vava" was one of his nicknames and he just seemed so goofy when he did it.

(2) Ollie used to use his paws like little hands to pull Greenies treats out of the bag whenever you put it in front of him. I'd say "Use your hands, Ollie!" and he would pull some out to munch on.

(3) He loved sitting on the desk with me while I worked, especially under the light. He also loved laying right up next to the heat vent on the laptop and sometimes even on the laptop. He would type weird little messages with his shoulder. Sometimes he could not decide where on the desk he wanted to be, so I would frantically clear off every bit of space I could, moving my laptop into ridiculous positions so that he could be comfortable. Usually, after all that, he would decide to go somewhere else and jump off the desk. :)

(4) Whenever there was any sort of flat object - blankets, pieces of paper, place mats, etc. - laying on a surface, Ollie had to sit on it and usually had to center himself in the middle of it.

(5) He has little white furrs on his black ears, so it always looked like he was going grey on the ears.

(6) The tip of his tail was white, so one of his (seldom-used) nicknames was "White Tip." Marty has a white ring around the end of his tail, so we called him "White Ring" (also seldom-used).

(7) The first year we took him to my parents' house for Christmas, he spent all his time in the basement. We couldn't find him one night and then we heard meows from within the ceiling tiles. Turns out he had gotten into the ceiling through an opening in a partial closet and was walking around in there. We had to pull out a bunch of ceiling tiles to drag him out. Then he did it again. :)

Once I find time and some cats who haven't been tagged, I'll tag them.

I've Been Tagged! - Part 2

Ok, a long time ago, I was tagged but mums and pops were in the process of moving and didn't have internet, etc. Today is my one-month anniversary at the Bridge and in honor of that, since she is too upset to write a full memorial for me today, Mums is going to try to list seven things about me that might be a secret. Forgive her if you've heard them before - today is a tough day for her. She transferred a bunch of photos off the camera today, including some of the last pictures she ever took of me and boy were her eyes watering! Then she had to fix her calendar because all the things got screwed up b/c of the time change, which meant she had to look at all the records of my vet appointments and tests and whatnot, and her eyes watered some more.

I know you miss me mums, but I am always with you and I am doing good now! Try to remember the good times and think about how we will be together again one day!

I've Been Tagged, Pt. 1

My pal Autumn (http://www.catster.com/cats/555335) tagged me, but my family is in the process of moving across the country right now and soon they will be (gasp!) temporarily without the internet, so I'm going to have to wait a little bit to play this game.

I'm going to be very busy these next few days supervising my family's move, making sure Martin is not too scared of the movers, the car, etc..., making sure my family gets to their new home safely. Mums is still sad about going without me, but she knows that she's not really without me. I'm just taking up less space in the car now! I'm as much a part of my family as ever.

Finally Starting to Feel Real

This is Ollie's mom - We picked up his ashes today from the vet. This is finally starting to feel real to me. Tomorrow will be two weeks at the Bridge. I miss you Ollie!

Moving Day is Coming!

My family is moving to a new apartment - from Chicago, IL to Arlington, VA. Arlington is where we were adopted and where we spent the first year of our lives.

Mums doesn't want to leave the place where I spent the longest part of my life - she has so many memories of me there (both good and bad). But she also knows she has to - her new job and all - and a small part of her hates this place, because she thinks that it's her fault that I got sick and if we had never come here for her to go to school, I would still be ok. She feels guilty, something we kitties almost never experience ourselves, since we know everything we do is just fine.

I wish she wouldn't think things like this - we will never know how or why I got FIP, but it's certainly not her fault. School was such a good thing for her - she hated the job she had before - and because of it she gets her dream job! I know Marty has written about this from his perspective and talked about how Mums is really sad about making the move, especially since she thinks that I won't be going along.

But I have a secret - I AM going along! I will just be taking up a whole lot less space during the trip. I am a Bridge kitty now, which means I can be anywhere I want. I am not bound to a particular place and I CERTAINLY do not need to sit in a cage to take a car trip. (Poor Marty) I will be with my family during the trip, protecting them from crazy drivers and bad weather, and I will be with them in their new home and anywhere else they need me. I think Mums really does know this, she just forgets it sometimes.