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The Best of Boomer

37 years

I was born 37 years ago today. I came to live with my Mom when I was 3 months old. She had never had a kitty before. She took good care of me, and we traveled together and had a ball.

I especially loved it when we moved to Hawaii. It was always warm there, and I never got a chill like I did in Illinois and California.

When Mom said we were gonna move back to the Mainland, I decided to stay in Hawaii. So I left for the Rainbow Bridge, and my little body stayed in Hawaii forever.

I was with Mom 23.5 years, and I am sure glad I found her! Mom was even more lucky to find me!

Are girls supposed to admit that they're 37?

I'm a Daily Diary Pick!?!

Thank you, HQ! I am very surprised to be selected, but I think it is a great honor for all of us angels!

Woo-Hoo!

*runs off to celebrate with Scooter and Tooney and Simon and Alaidh and Missy, and her best buddy, Spunky, while wiping tears of joy from her eyes*

My anniversary and a very busy Bridge

It is 13 years today that I traveled to the Bridge. The past two weeks have been the busiest I have spent up here. You see. I am on the greeting committee.

First Scooter arrived. I have never seen such a mob scene before. That girl is POPular!, But she has her cranky moments.

Then came Tooney. He is a little mad that he can’t sit on his Daddy’s shoulder anymore.

Next, along came Simon. He’s a little peeved that he couldn’t meet Scootie’s Mom. He was really looking forward to that meeting.

Pretty soon Alaidh was here and she was kind of tired, and laid down for a nap as soon as she got here.

And lastly, Missy showed up, TOTALLY unannounced. But she was more than a little angry that she didn’t get a nice quiet good-bye with her family like everyone else did.

You see, the Rainbow Bridge is a place where we are still ourselves, but you can’t see us. And BOY! Do we ever understand that separation is not what you want; we hate it, too.

My Mom had, and lost, an old pet: ME! Mom got me when she was 22 and I died when she was 45. She loved me very much and I was the undisputed Queen of the house. People feared for Mom’s health when I died.

Holding my lifeless body was a real revelation to Mom. The little being that she adored so and loved with all her heart was GONE. And the little body she held was NOT me. So my body was buried in Hawaii, and I, the REAL Boomer, went to live in her heart.

But she remembers very well the week leading up to and the first few months after I died. She was a wreck and was practically a recluse. She realizes now that to react any other way would be very odd. The loss of her companion of 23 years merited that response.

A few months went by, and Mom found that she had a kitty shaped hole in her heart. My spirit lived there, but I wasn’t purring, and no cat person can tolerate too long a time period without purring.

So she looked and looked at kittens. She was looking for a successor to the Queen. I was definitely NOT replaceable. But she thought I was such an extraordinary girl that I DESERVED a successor.

She looked for a boy, because she didn't want him to have to be the delicate little girl I was. And she looked at any color but black and white, because I was black and white. She missed out on the adoption of a few, but finally found a little fellow she thought she could live with. She named him Leonard.

About half way thru the first week, Leonard began coughing and was taken to the vet. He was critically ill and Mom was immediately caught up in trying to save him. And she did. During the struggle she realized that she had his name wrong. He was always fighting taking the medicine and saying "AR!" to her. So she changed his name to Arnold, in honor of her favorite golf hero.

Mom adores Arnold. In some ways, her relationship with him is different and maybe even better than the one with me. Because Mom is older and has essentially no expectations of him, everything he does amuses her. She expected me to behave in certain ways because I was her first cat. She doesn’t expect anything of Arnold. She’s so much more mature now!

And the kitty shaped hole in her heart is full to overflowing. She hasn’t forgotten me and even regaled a friend with stories about me just the other day.

And Scooter, even though she is sometimes cranky, is the sweetest girl kit I have ever met. She clearly was the Queen of Albuquerque.

And it is no wonder Tooney’s Daddy loved him so much. He is a precious boy.

And Simon was disappointed to not meet Scootie’s Mom, but he is the gentlest of souls.

And by the time I turned around, Alaidh was gone from sight after a brief nap, and then I heard she had already cornered a dino! What a mighty hunter that girl is!

And Missy was mad about crossing so unexpectedly, but immediately wrote all the cool thing about herself down so that Tyler wouldn’t ever forget her. What a great sister!

Mom is so grateful for Catster. If it were not for this place, very few people would know about me and my remarkable life. But here I am celebrating what would normally be a very sad day. Sad, because I am gone from her life, but a celebration because I live on in her heart and have many wonderful friends to wait with until I see Mom again.

Thank you all for loving my Mom and taking care of her and Arnold for me! I will take care of your babies for you!