Only the Good Die Young

I have been meaning to post some pics of the kitty cats for several weeks now, but this is not how I wanted this post to be. Last Friday, our sweet kitten, Ella, was hit by a car and died. We did not know it happened until we received responses from missing cat signs we posted around the neighborhood on Sunday afternoon. It has been a difficult time, especially for me because I love all our cats so dearly and Ella was one of my favorites. (I love them all, but sometimes you feel an extra bond with one that you do not have with the others.) Somehow you always feel like you are going to have these little fur-babies forever. No matter how many pets you have had and lost, when you bring home that kitten (or pup) you hold them close and picture quite impossibly that they will always be with you.

These are the last photos that I have of Ella. She was a marvelous cat with a cuddly & curious attitude. She had the silkiest fur and sweetest face. Ella was a magpie and loved to find & take small stuffed toys to carry around the house. She would play bat & chase and lose them under the furniture. Finding her favorite toys around the house now brings a lump to my throat. Ella's favorite spot to sleep was sprawled on the rug in the hallway upstairs. At night, she loved to jump on the counter in the bathroom and watch the water run in the sinks. I would pet her while I brushed my teeth and readied myself for bed. It is hard not to have her cheerful presence in the house... gone so quickly, gone too soon.

Franklin & Ella were littermates- truly the best kittens we have ever had! You could tell that they were brother & sister not just because they looked alike, but because of how they curled up together to sleep. They would bathe each other sweetly and often these grooming sessions would dissolve into sneak attacks and spontaneous games of chase. Whenever I see Franklin, he reminds me a of a lone bookend.... a salt shaker without his pepper.

My heart is still aching from this loss (this post has been so difficult to write). I scoop Franklin up in my arms more frequently now and think gratefully about how lucky we were to have Ella in our lives, even if for such a short time. Over the Rainbow Bridge, forever kitten, our Eleanor Bella Roosevelt: you are loved and missed.