My Daddy by John Hawley

The following was written by my husband, and I liked the story so much I had to put in on the blog. I think he's a lot better at writing than he gives himself credit. It's a sweet story, I hope you enjoy and feel free to leave comments if you like it.

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My Daddy

It was long ago, but she still remembered. A time when her owner was full of life and joy, a time when she was young and spry. He used to play with her all day, scratch her chin, and she'd sleep between his left arm and his chest, snuggling as close as she possibly could. Times like those made her one happy kitty. She never thought of him as her owner, but as her Daddy.

Life had changed a lot since those days, her Daddy had gotten sick and was very weak, she had reached her final years. There was no longer a spring to her step and her joints ached, her Daddy wasn't feeling much better. She didn't know what was wrong with him, he just slept all day, he had little motivation and had lost a lot of weight.

There were however, the memories. Memories of all they had been through together A time when she needed a very expensive surgery and her Daddy had paid for it. Others would have put their pet down, but Daddy thought she was worth all the money in the world. She loved him so much for this display of loyalty and affection.

Sometimes he would get a bad cold and was bedridden for days. She would lay in that particular spot between his left arm and chest and purr, purr, purr just to comfort him. It would seem, at least to her, that cuddling next to her Daddy would help him get better faster.

On her birthday he would always get her canned kitty food, her favorite thing in the whole world... besides her Daddy. He'd play for what seemed like forever with her favorite string and shower her in catnip. She recalls when she was just a baby kitten that he'd give her warm milk.

With these thoughts in her head she slowly, painfully, crawled into bed with him, nestling herself in her favorite spot between his left arm and chest. She purred a deep, contented purr, seemingly at peace with all that had come their way. Her Daddy's pulse began to weaken as well as hers, but she still purred just as loudly and proud as she could, she did after all, love her Daddy.

As the life and light began to leave her eyes and their pulses stopped, all was not lost, they were not gone, but instead together again in Heaven, just as happy as they'd ever been.