Chloe In Memoriam

I know this blog is usually about reading-type things, but what's the point of having a personal blog if you can't write about whatever you want? Today, I want to write about Chloe, who went to cat heaven this morning.

Chloe is my mom's cat. In fact, I got my mom Chloe as a birthday gift when I was in high school. It was a kind of sneaky affair. My mom had wanted a cat for awhile. She had grown up with a cat, but my dad sometimes has trouble with allergies (as it turns out, his cat allergies aren't all that bad). One year, though, my dad inadvertently booked reservations at the Grand Canyon over her birthday weekend, and so he was away. In my mind, this created the perfect opportunity for my mom to get a kitten. For her birthday, we went to the Humane Society to get a cat, and we came home with Chloe. For her first few weeks, as she got used to her new home she lived in my bedroom, and I got to play with her to my heart's content. Who doesn't love being woken up by an adorable, rambunctious kitten? Throughout her kittenhood, Chloe was a playful, friendly, good-natured cat. Occasionally, you'd go to pull out a chair from the kitchen table and find it strangely heavy because this was one of Chloe's prime napping spots. As an adult, she was motherly towards the other cats in the house, and her favorite spot just happened to be wherever my mom was. It is awful to lose a pet who had been a part of our family for so long, but the memory of the happiness she brought us will certainly outlast our sadness today.