... and her lives ran out...

When we started dating, my hubby has had this grey & white fluffy cat by the name of Tina. She used to be an indoor/outdoor cat (she used the dog door to come and go as she pleased) but once I moved in, she became an outdoor only cat. Now, obviously I gave her the boot but let me tell you she wasn't the friendliest kitty and she certainly wasn't giving up her spot as Queen without a fight.

We tried our best to 'train' her to stop camping out in places where she shouldn't be and eventually the constant vacuuming/cleaning up of her fluffy fur balls she was shedding in addition to the ones she was hacking up became too much for us to bear (hubby was doing a lot of daily cleaning). So, out she went!

We created a place for her on our front porch. We bought her a little 'cat house' so she had a place to sleep out of the elements and made sure she always had water and food when she came home to our porch. She actually became the neighborhood cat that everyone loved. Even as unfriendly as she was, she certainly had a certain charm and attractiveness to her that made everyone fond of her. I remember one day she came home with a flea collar on her and found out later that the neighbor across the street put it on her - she was spending so much time over there! But, she still came home at least once a day to eat, meowing at the door to let us know she was there and she needed to be fed! We often saw her strolling around the neighborhood daring anyone to mess with her and stood her ground in the middle of the street even when cars came by. We joked and swore she had a kajillion lives and we'd never be rid of her!

So today, two ladies from our neighborhood knocked at our door and asked if we owned the fluffy gray kitty. After I responded, they both told me with sadness in their voice that they found her and she was dead. She came to rest under some bushes in the neighbor's yard. I went over, called her name to make sure she wasn't just sleeping and reached out and touched her. There she was - cold and stiff. She was definitely gone...

I ran back into the house and into the bathroom where my husband was taking a shower and choked out the words... "Eric - Tina is dead." He immediately opened the shower door and looked at me stunned and said "What?" I then started crying. Which surprised me. There was no love lost between me and Tina but for some reason the thought of not seeing this tough little kitty stand her ground in the street, or coming to the porch and meowing for her food any longer just struck my nerve. She was still ours after all and I was fond of her even if she wasn't friendly to me. I like to think both of us 'agreed to disagree' about the living arrangements in the house when she was shown the door. We then both went on about our lives, respecting the new rules and giving each other ample space without intruding.

So, here's to Tina Weena (as I so fondly called her) - the devilishly, charming kitty who ruled the neighborhood. You will be missed...