04-01-2007 to 10-05-2024
In 2006, I took in a sickly kitten even though I was temporarily living at home after having left my college after freshman year (see last picture). I begrudgingly named her Gizz (a friend insisted). She was with me for the next 18.5 years – a cross country move, so many different living situations, relationships, jobs, good times, bad times, the arrival of my son, Max. She was just always there – a true constant in my life.
She loved sleeping on shoulders or as close to your face as possible. For a majority of her life, she insisted on drinking from bathroom sinks only. She probably ate like 100 bags of Temptations treats in all but never got over 7lbs. She didn’t put up with bullshit and was always queen bee among her animal companions. But she was also super tolerant of people and kids and absolutely loved affection of all kinds. She was diagnosed with lymphoma in 2020 and I thought we had only limited time left with her. Because it was Gizz, she stuck around for another 4 years instead, affectionately earning the nickname “little cockroach”. But last week I knew something had shifted and her time was approaching. We spent Saturday morning with her, giving her snuggles and what treats she’d accept. It was a cloudy and drizzly morning but the sun came out right around lunchtime. Sun came into our bedroom and she felt it one last time on our bed as a sweet vet helped her move on. I miss her immensely and it just feels…more empty without her. I’m grateful for the time we did have and thank her for being stubborn enough to live so long. She was ready to go, me not so much. But I’ll get there with time. Love you Gizz ♥️