Long Lived the Brown Cat

I went to Riverchase Middle School in the sixth grade.  That was a big year.  Middle school.  My first dance team tryouts.  We bought a home after several years of apartment living.  And, on the last day of school, my mom checked me out early...to go pick up our kittens.  That's right, we moved into our new house on the first weekend of summer break, and on the very first night in my very own room (which I had never had before) I snuggled up and slept with my new kitten... Jasmine.  That was May of 1993, I was eleven then.

One month early, while we were still house hunting, we looked at a home and the owners' cat, Elvis, had just had a litter of kittens.  Three yellow striped tabby cats and one brown one.  Amanda and I instantly fell in love with the kittens.  Amanda became fond of the little one with a quiet, cuddly temperment.  I wanted the brown one that crawled all over me and everyone else.  Nooobody wanted the brown cat but me, but somehow Amanda and I convinced our mother to adopt them both.  One month later, we would return to pick up our then 8-week old kittens and take them to our new home.

It wasn't long before we learned "Jasmine" was a boy, so HIS name became Jasper.  He was a completely wild spirited kitten with a fear of nothing.  He climbed curtains and chased flashlights, loved to curl up in grocery bags and would come when you called him, just like a dog.  He wasn't your ordinary cat.  He loved a good bath.  He never hid from children but jumped right in and played.  His purr was like a motor-boat idling on your chest.  He would "make biscuits" with his paws until his nest was made and he was ready to lay down for one of his famous cat naps- that usually ended up with him sprawled out on his back.

He earned a place as a member of our family.  He was there as I finished middle school and high school. He saw me off to college and greeted me when I came home to visit.  He stayed with my mother when I moved to Tennessee.  He moved with my mom as she remarried.  He took on a chihuahua named Levi as a roommate.  And last November, my childhood pet greeted my newly-born son on his first trip to Nani and Papa Ron's house.  

This past Saturday, October 22nd 2011, Jasper peacefully went to his forever home in heaven.  To say he lived a long life is an understatement.  He was 18 years old, approximately 96 in cat years, a rarely attained age for a cat.  He was with our family for almost two decades.  He outlived three other cats, a rabbit and who knows how many fish.  He was truly an amazing cat with a unique spirit.  Pets like him don't come along very often.  He will always be remembered as extraordinary.  Rest easy boy, enjoy your retirement, and thank you for so many great years together.  You will be fondly remembered and greatly missed. - Love your sister