Letter from mommy

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November 13th 2011 8:14 am
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Kayleigh, I think of you not only today, on your first bridge anniversary, but everyday. You were and will always be my special girl.

I remember the year I moved away from home to make my own way. I had your brothers Brandon and Cole but my mom (you knew her as "granny") talked me into leaving them with her because she thought that I would be working all the time and not able to provide them the neccessary time that a pet requires. I knew she was wrong but I didn't argue with her and I sadly left my two boys with her.

I was so very lonely living in a new town with no family, friends or pets. I will never forget the day I found you. It was January 11, 1997......

I had just returned home from work and heard a kitty meowing in the bushes near my apartment building. I bent down and peeked under the shrubs to make sure the kitty I heard was not injured or sick. I was amazed at your beauty! I was certain that you belonged to someone so I left you alone and went to my apartment. All day the newscasts had talked about an approaching ice storm. That night I listened to the weather news before bed and I remembered you laying under the bushes that afternoon. I figured you had returned to your family by this time but on a whim, I grabbed a flashlight and ran down the stairs barefoot in shorts and a tshirt to make sure you weren't still there. It was FREEZING cold and beginning to sleet and I knelt down on the cold ground and shined the flashlight right on you!!! I couldn't believe you were still there!! I reached under the shrubs and gently pulled you out and gathered you into my arms and carried you upstairs and held you in my arms to warm you. You were so beautiful, sweet and gentle. We slept together that night, keeping each other warm while the power fickered on and off thru the night threatening to go off but it never did.

The next morning we woke up to solid ice everywhere. The town was at a stand still but I found a grocery store 1/2 a mile down the road that was open. I bundled up and carefully walked on solid ice, slipping and sliding the entire way so I could buy you a few neccessities (food, litter and litterbox). We spent the next three days continuing to keep each other warm. On the fourth day, the ice finally melted and I returned to work. I let you outside when I left, certain that you would return to your family.

When I returned home that afternoon, you heard the sound of my scooter drive up and I saw beautiful YOU run from around the building, up the stairs and wait for me to come up and open the door. You ran into my apartment as though you already owned the place :) That entire first week, you spent the nights with me and the days outside where I thought someone HAD to be missing you and that you would find your way home to them, but every afternoon was a replay of the one before and after that first week I knew that YOU had adopted ME.

It was that night that I decided you needed a name and I knew it had to be a name as beautiful as you. That night I thought up names and asked you to let me know which one you liked best. I would call out names but you didn't respond to any. Then while reading a book, one of the characters names was "Kayleigh" and I thought "that is a beautiful name." I looked at you and asked, "What do you think about the name 'Kayleigh'?" You looked up and walked toward me and said, "Meow." And it was settled.......you were now my beautiful girl Kayleigh :)

Today, on your first bridge anniversary, I thank you for coming into my life when I desperately needed a pet to fill the emtiness I felt in my heart and home. I will always cherish the 14 years we shared together. Until we meet again..... I will hold you gently in my heart.

Love,
Mommy