Missing Mooky

It's been a whole year since the chirpy and very demonstrative voice of our furry little princess, Mishka, fell silent. She has, and continues to be, deeply missed. Such a good-natured, highly entertaining, a gastro-intestinally - and gastronomically - challenged and wonderfully vocal bundle of fluff, with whom I shared close to sixteen years of my life. Almost the whole time I've lived in Canada. The $10 pub kitten who started out like a big-headed Beanie Baby, blossomed into a feline Cindy Crawford and aged into a black/smokey-grey-haired matriarch, with a pudgey but cute, semi-baldy belly.

The little love who was certainly happy enough and never, ever unfriendly even if she was nevertheless a tad aloof and didn't really go in for cuddles, snuggles and belly rubs. She simply did her thing, preferred to be somewhat in the background - especially during the years we had a full brood of five cats - and always played nice. Only as she got older, and a few of the other cats passed away, did she really come into her own - and boy, did she ever! She became a new cat, even more adorable and communicative, one who adamantly asserted her presence at every opportunity and in more ways than one. Oh the endless conversations you could have with Mishka. She was never short of something to say....or shout, especially if she thought you had tuna. And what a night-time snuggler she became, curling up tight against my chest - or by Lorne's head - relentlessly purring up a storm.

While the circumstances around my having several months off in 2012 were not what I necessarily would have asked for, I will always....always....be grateful for the extra time it gave me with Mishka, and at a time where she needed us to be there for her too. If there was ever a bright, bright shiny silver lining to what might otherwise have been one of Life's clouds, then that was surely it for me, and for her. She was my constant companion, my friend. therapist and mentor, and my furry little shadow everywhere I went. Those precious months together, on top of more than 15 years of endearing companionship, are what fill my heart with joy and love whenever I think of my precious little luv. I am forever grateful for the sheer privilege of sharing so many years with her, and all our kitties come to think of it.

Here's to you, Mishka - my wonderful Mooky-Moo. You are loved and missed every day.  xxxxxxxxxxxx