There's A Hole In Our Home & Our Hearts

We lost our little Callie a week ago Thursday & there's a sense of emptiness in our home. She was around 15 or so - it's difficult to know when you adopt adult cats from a rescue group - but we'd hoped to have her for a few more years. She came to us from the Michigan Animal Rescue League through their adoption center at PetSmart in Rochester Hills. We wandered in one day to pick up cat food & as usual went past the room with the cats & kittens looking for a home. Callie had a lot of charm - she managed to ensnare DH through two panes of glass and the cage door. Next thing I knew I was filling out adoption papers and we brought her home a couple days later. The staff told us that she'd arrived about 20 minutes before we saw her & that it was very unusual for a cat to be placed there before the stitches from her neutering operation had been removed, so I guess it was meant to be.

Her name at the shelter was "Tigger" - not really apt for a Calico, plus she spent the first couple days hiding in my quilting cupboards, so she became "Callie". I don't really think she cared what she was called as long as it involved food. She was tiny compared to our other cats - maybe 13# at her plumpest - but she ruled the roost. If Moki & Tiger started to mix it up, Callie would be there almost immediately to whop them on the nose & send them to their respective corners. She continued her role as Queen of the House after we lost Moki & Tiger, adopted Boomer & inherited Sadie. It was funny to watch Boomer thinking that he was sneaking up on Sadie only to see that it was Callie at the food bowl & quickly turning tail to slink away.

At first, she wasn't very cuddly as though her previous owners hadn't allowed her on their laps, but she soon discovered that one of us was always available for an ear scratch. It wasn't long before she adopted the waterbed as a preferred sleeping spot - that is if there wasn't a sunbeam coming in the windows in the living room. It seems strange to see that sunbeam & for it to be empty.. Rest in peace, little one - you're missed so much..