I saw her for the first time in a cage with about 15 other rescue cats. It was August of ’98 and about 110 degrees. That is welcome to Mississippi the hard way. Anyway, the cage was stuffed filled with kittens and they were all sleeping except one. I scanned the cage to choose the one we wanted to take home. I noticed these two eyes staring at me from the food dish that was in the cage. She apparently did not want to rest with her other siblings; no she was content sitting in the food dish playing and being spunky. I immediately fell in love. We named her Faith and her sister Hope.
Faith was a little tike. She was kind of runty but never sickly. So we started nicknaming her “mustard seed” (taken from the bible the book of Matthew chapter 17:20 So Jesus said to them, "Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you).One of my fondest memories is when Faith would let me pick her up and dance with her during Christmas time. I would put on the Nutcracker and she would love the whimsical music. While I held her in my arms she would look up at me so expectantly. Mind you this would only happen around Christmas time. Any other time I could not pick her up she got grumpy. I also remember during my college years I got in the habit of studying on the floor. Faith and her sister would pounce all over my work and attack the pen that I was using to write with.
She was amazing. One of the funniest things she would do during us watching a movie. One thing that would always keep us on our toes was her timing. We would be watching a scary movie and right during a scary scene, she would jump up on the arm of the chair and make this loud purr that would sound like a growl. We would come unglued, and we would end up yelling at her because she scared us so. Faith would also like to fetch things. We would purchase those small rubbers balls the ones about the size of a quarter. We would throw the ball and it would bounce everywhere. Well, she would run all over the house chasing this stupid ball. The she would take it in her mouth and then bring it back and drop it at our feet. This could go on for hours because she would never stop. We would have to give up.
Faith had been suffering with mammary cancer for a few months. She had also developed a deep cough that would produce nothing. So the vet thought that the cancer had spread to her lungs. There was nothing that could be done. We decided to let her live out her life as comfortable as we could make her. The other day I had to make one of the worst decisions I ever had to make. One of her big tumors broke and there was really no alternative. The vet counseled me and said the best thing would be to let her go. I was petting her head and telling her how much we loved her when she passed on. It was so sudden, just like her time with us. My heart had been breaking the 3 hours that I had been waiting at the vet. But being there when she passed on was special and tragic all at the same time. I greaved and still do even writing this.
To us she was not just a cat. I know that is hard for people to sometimes to understand. But we don’t have children so our cats are our kids. I have had to discipline, spoil, clean up after, and even comfort Faith these past 11 years. She was one of us. She was my girl. For me it was like losing one of my kids.
So if you can indulge me for the next couple of days, I am going to be writing about my Faith and some of the lessons she taught us. I don’t know what the purpose of this will be, other then making me feel better. And again that is what Faith did everyday for my wife and me.
Faith was a little tike. She was kind of runty but never sickly. So we started nicknaming her “mustard seed” (taken from the bible the book of Matthew chapter 17:20 So Jesus said to them, "Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you).One of my fondest memories is when Faith would let me pick her up and dance with her during Christmas time. I would put on the Nutcracker and she would love the whimsical music. While I held her in my arms she would look up at me so expectantly. Mind you this would only happen around Christmas time. Any other time I could not pick her up she got grumpy. I also remember during my college years I got in the habit of studying on the floor. Faith and her sister would pounce all over my work and attack the pen that I was using to write with.
She was amazing. One of the funniest things she would do during us watching a movie. One thing that would always keep us on our toes was her timing. We would be watching a scary movie and right during a scary scene, she would jump up on the arm of the chair and make this loud purr that would sound like a growl. We would come unglued, and we would end up yelling at her because she scared us so. Faith would also like to fetch things. We would purchase those small rubbers balls the ones about the size of a quarter. We would throw the ball and it would bounce everywhere. Well, she would run all over the house chasing this stupid ball. The she would take it in her mouth and then bring it back and drop it at our feet. This could go on for hours because she would never stop. We would have to give up.
Faith had been suffering with mammary cancer for a few months. She had also developed a deep cough that would produce nothing. So the vet thought that the cancer had spread to her lungs. There was nothing that could be done. We decided to let her live out her life as comfortable as we could make her. The other day I had to make one of the worst decisions I ever had to make. One of her big tumors broke and there was really no alternative. The vet counseled me and said the best thing would be to let her go. I was petting her head and telling her how much we loved her when she passed on. It was so sudden, just like her time with us. My heart had been breaking the 3 hours that I had been waiting at the vet. But being there when she passed on was special and tragic all at the same time. I greaved and still do even writing this.
To us she was not just a cat. I know that is hard for people to sometimes to understand. But we don’t have children so our cats are our kids. I have had to discipline, spoil, clean up after, and even comfort Faith these past 11 years. She was one of us. She was my girl. For me it was like losing one of my kids.
So if you can indulge me for the next couple of days, I am going to be writing about my Faith and some of the lessons she taught us. I don’t know what the purpose of this will be, other then making me feel better. And again that is what Faith did everyday for my wife and me.
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