who skidded up and down the hall.
In pursuit of a mouse,
he could destroy the whole house.
"Gus-Gus!" his owner would call.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
I Am...
I am curious and cuddly.
I wonder what cool, new, high places I can discover.
I hear my mommy's keys in the door.
I see myself exploring the great outdoors.
I want some ice cream.
I am curious and cuddly.
I pretend I am an acrobat.
I feel the grass under my paws as I chase the squirrel that taunts me.
I touch my mommy's face.
I worry she will not come home.
I cry when I want attention.
I am curious and cuddly.
I understand my mommy hates it when I jump up on something and knock things over, leaving destruction in my wake.
I say, "Who cares? It's fun!"
I dream of days filled with play and sleep and mischief and love.
I try to comfort my mommy.
I hope she'll share some cuddles with me and maybe some of her dinner.
I am curious and cuddly.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Cecily misses you
Dear Gus-Gus,
Cecily is sitting here impatiently by me as I type this, waiting for the laptop to be out of my lap so that she can sit on me. In fact, she keeps trying to climb into my lap, despite the presence of the laptop! Ever since you left us, Cecily has been so clingy. All she wants to do is sit on my lap, whether I am sitting or standing. She meows non-stop. Sometimes I can't tell if she's just talking or if she's crying. Part of me feels like she knew there was something wrong with you before I did. It seemed that she had detached herself from you, knowing that you were not going to be around for much longer...
Gus-Gus, we both miss you so much. I wish that I had taken you to the vet sooner. I wish that I had noticed something was amiss before it was too late. I wish I had spent more time with you, just petting you and holding you. I wish I had appreciated you more when you were here. I wish my premonitions would have been wrong. I wish the doctors could have fixed you. I wish you would have lived for more than 4 years. It seems so unfair that you were taken from me so soon. I love your sister, but she is so neurotic and needy and difficult. You balanced that out because you were so calm and mellow and good. What am I going to do without you?
I wish you were here to harass me to get under the covers at night. The last time you tried, I wouldn't let you. I'm so sorry I didn't. I wish you were here to meow like a little pterodactyl when I didn't open the door right away upon returning home. I wish you were here to chase the laser pointer around and throw your mice up in the air as you wrestled around on the floor with them. I wish you were here to jump up on the fridge, bookshelf, and bathroom cabinets. I wish you were here to eat the flowers and wrestle with Cecily, crouching tiger/hidden dragon style. I wish you were here to jump up on my back while I was brushing my teeth and to wrap your paws around my fingers. I wish you were here so I could brush the knots out of your hair and clean the boogies out of your eyes and nose. I wish I could pet the little bridge of your nose and make you lick your lips. I wish I could see your little snaggle tooth once again.
What am I supposed to do, Gus? Can Cecily be an only cat? Should I get her a new "sibling"? Will she learn to accept a new sibling? Is she going to be this clingy forever? Would I be able to accept a new pet? Would it help me to get over losing you? What if Cecily gets sick or if I got a new cat and she or he got sick? How long before I feel normal again? How long before I will be able to sleep normally and focus on work? How long before I won't vacillate between numbness and tears?
I miss your fluffiness and love. I miss you jumping into my arms when I taunted you, not picking you up when you clearly wanted to snuggle. I miss your little body with all that crazy fur. I miss your big light blue eyes and the way you loved everyone.
I love you Gus-Gus, and I know I did the right thing so that you wouldn't suffer anymore. I hope you are romping around, frolicking with toy mice and reveling in the scent of catnip. I wish you were still here with me so that I could enjoy playing and cuddling with you once more. You had a totally different feel than Cecily, being half her size and having twice the hair, so cuddling her doesn't really compare. It's just not the same.
I love you my little Gus-Gus.
Love,
Mommy
Friday, May 29, 2009
101 Things I Want to Remember About Gus-Gus
1. The little neighbor boy dubbed him “Big Face”.
2. He was a favorite with all the kids.
3. He did back-flips when he was chasing the feather on a stick.
4. He waited at the door for me to come home.
5. He tried to escape when I opened the door, but only went far enough to have a little adventure in the neighbor’s front yard.
6. He ate my plants or flowers.
7. He loved to sleep in the sink.
8. He was all purrs and paws.
9. He loved to sleep on top of the refrigerator.
10. He loved to sleep on top of the book shelf.
11. He loved to sleep on top of the cabinets in my bathroom.
12. He loved to sleep on top of the shower.
13. He got along with all other cats, whether they liked him or not.
14. He tossed toy mice up in the air and caught them.
15. He was a great traveler.
16. He would eat plastic if I didn’t keep it under wraps, no matter how many times he got sick from it.
17. If I was leaning over to do something, for instance, leaning over the sink while brushing my teeth, he would jump on my back.
18. If he wanted me to pick him up and I didn’t, he would hurl himself into my arms.
19. He chased bugs just for the fun of it. He didn't actually kill them. Especially fun for him was when we lived on McLennan and there were crickets living in the corner of the room. Those were fun. They jumped!
20. He jumped really high to try to “catch” the laser pointer light.
21. I took him to school with me when I first got him, and he actually liked meeting all the people.
22. He loved people.
23. He knew when I was sad and was always very concerned and would try to comfort me.
24. He loved to take naps in the sun.
25. He loved to go outside and check things out, whether it be on a “leash” or in my arms.
26. He would sleep on my papers that I was trying to grade.
27. He was curious about everything.
28. He had a snaggle-tooth.
29. He had really light blue eyes.
30. He hated to be brushed, but he always felt really good afterwards.
31. I could never make the bed in peace because he was constantly trying to attack the sheets as I tried to put them on.
32. He loved windows of all kinds.
33. He loved to sleep or play in boxes, the smaller the better.
34. He liked to sit with me while I read or did my quiet times.
35. He loved little small spaces.
36. He always tried to steal the pen out of my hand whenever I was grading or writing.
37. He loved to sleep under the covers with me at night.
38. He was light on his feet but awfully uncoordinated. He often took stuff out as he leapt from here to there.
39. He loved to sleep in my closet.
40. He loved to sleep on my clothes.
41. When he wanted attention and I was ignoring him, he would squeek out the most pathetic little meow.
42. He enticed people who didn’t particularly like cats to like him.
43. He hated hardwood floors…not enough traction.
44. I loved to watch him curl up in a ball and sleep beside his sister.
45. He loved to sleep on top of my scrapbooking tote.
46. He tried to stow away in my suitcase if I left it out.
47. He and his sister used to play fight in a way that I called “crouching tiger, hidden dragon”.
48. In true younger brother form, Gus-Gus would sneak in little nips to Cecily here or there but then would play victim if she came after him for it.
49. He seemed to have a “hollow leg” because he ate so much but was so perpetually skinny.
50. He was a great alarm clock.
51. He acted crazy whenever I gave him catnip. He loved to roll around on the floor in it.
52. I loved to watch Cecily and Gus-Gus bathe each other.
53. He did not often take “no” for an answer.
54. He would put his two front paws up on me and meow his little meow when he wanted something that I wasn’t giving him fast enough.
55. He loved condensed or evaporated milk.
56. I used to let him lick the top of the yogurt container from my plain yogurt.
57. He made friends with squirrels at two different houses we lived in.
58. He made friends with a raccoon that lived in the back yard of one of our houses.
59. He was a trooper each time we moved. He lived in five different houses with me.
60. Seldom did he meet someone who didn’t fall in love with him.
61. He would stick his paw in my water glass to get a taste for himself.
62. He loved the window perch I set up for him in our second place.
63. He loved to play attack mom’s hand under the covers.
64. He would hold onto my fingers with his paws.
65. He used to touch my face with his paws.
66. He sniffed my chin when I came home from somewhere to see where I’d been.
67. He loved to sleep on or near my shoes.
68. He never hissed at Cecily, although she hissed at him quite a few times, even if it was in play.
69. When Gus-Gus came back from the groomer and smelled different, Cecily growled at him for about a week before she thought he smelled right again.
70. He was very interested in human food.
71. He tried to eat my yarn when I experimented with knitting.
72. Scrapbooking was a virtual impossibility with Gus-Gus in the room; he loved to “help”.
73. He occasionally chased what seemed to be invisible things on the wall.
74. Usually he would come running when I said, “Who’s a Gus-Gus-Gus?!” Or, if he was right next to me and I said it he would either look up at me with inquisitive eyes or do a little meow.
75. If I said, “You want a treat?!” in the “special voice”, he would come running or meow if he was right there, or both.
76. He had me constantly covered in long, white hairs.
77. The first time he met a dog, Blanche, he bristled, and arched his back. I didn’t see him do that any other time, that I can remember.
78. He loved it when I talked to him, and I loved doing it.
79. He was mellow but mighty.
80. The original idea for his name was from the TV show “Avonlea” because his sister, Cecily, was named after one of the characters from the same show. He quickly became known as “Gus-Gus” from Cinderella instead of “Gus” from Avonlea, because he reminded me much more of the little stout mouse with all of his fur.
81. He hated when I cleaned his eyes, but he begrudgingly indulged me.
82. He was such a good sport when kids came over to play with him and were a little too overwhelming for him.
83. I loved to watch him wash his face.
84. He always tried to comfort me when I cried.
85. He always stayed close to me when I was sick.
86. When he was a kitten, I would give him and his sister kitten milk, and when I did, I would say, “miwk time!” and they would come running.
87. He was totally great about letting me cut his nails.
88. It was hard to get to his nails sometimes because he had so much fur between them!
89. There would always be one nail that was super duper sharp, like he was working on that one special, as his secret weapon.
90. He loved soup! He would always try to find my empty bowl of soup and lick the remnants.
91. He loved frozen yogurt or ice cream and would beg for little licks.
92. He loved to sleep in my laundry basket.
93. He loved to try to get into cabinets. The banging would drive me crazy!
94. He loved the teepee scratching post. He would sleep “in” it when he was a baby and then just loved scratching on it when he got too big for that.
95. He was too smart for the laser pointer pyramid. He figured out where the lasers were coming from right away and then just stared at the source instead of the wall where it was pointed.
96. He let me cry on him when I was having a bad day.
97. I loved to pet the bridge of his nose, and he would always lick his lips when I was done.
98. I loved to hold him like a baby, and love that he let me and that he liked it, too.
99. Whenever I held him like a baby, he would paw my face, lovingly.
100. He was concerned about me when I first learned that the vet found a mass. He was so weak, yet he found the energy to put his two front paws up on me from the examination table.
101. He was comforting to me as I spent time with him before the vet put him down. He was so calm and loving. He was playing with my fingers with his paws.
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