Chad

Today we said goodbye to the cat who set the bar of which all cats will be measured.
Chad passed away this morning.
It just happened so fast.

I can't- won't - go into details.
Even though he was about to turn 17, we didn't see this coming.
Chad was still taking down our 3 and 4 year old male cats on an annoyingly regular occasion.
I was completely not emotionally prepared for the loss of my baby Chad.

Things I will miss:
Chad greeting us at the door or going to the door to greet visitor
Chad smacking in my ear when he is happy
Chad's bottomless patience with the girls. He let them do anything to him and sought out their attention
Seeing Keira run to find Chad every day
Having Chad visit me and spend time with me as I got ready every day
The morning, afternoon and evening "Worship Chad" routine
Just everything about him

I will miss our Chad.
Many people will.
His first mommy was with me today (for that and placing Chad into my life, I will forever be in her debt). His first mommy works in the Astronaut Office. Chad was well known to quite a few astronauts, which made crew debriefs spin into chat about my "fat cat" Chad.
She is working on having a memorial for Chad flown on the next shuttle mission, which launches Monday.
That makes me so happy.
People die every day and my sweet kitty will have a memorial from space.
He really was special.


However, right now I sit here empty and broken.
Grateful for having had Chad in my life and bitter that he isn't tapping my shoulder while I sit at my computer desk. (Yes... he could reach that high)

I'm going to go upstairs and drown myself in thoughtless television and the comfort of Lt. Kije, who seems to understand more than cats let on. He has known this was coming for awhile. He rolled onto his back to let Chad tackle him a few weeks ago and lovingly cleaned Chad's face two nights ago.


Sweet dreams, Chad. I love you.