Friday, July 29, 2011

The End of an Era

This week was a very sad week in the Hanson household as we had to put down Lucy--our almost 23 year old cat.
Lucy has been in my life longer than most anyone beyond my core family. From the moment we found her stranded in the gutter and begged and pleaded to my Grandma Sherry to take her in (which totally worked), she won my heart.

Her little smoosh face stayed young through her old age.

She was not keen on Nate moving in with me when we lived in our apartment. Whatever room Nate was in, she was in the opposite room. Fast forward 5 years, and they were fast friends with morning 'love' sessions. Recently, Lucy was a little peeved that my belly was too big and not teh perfect 'resting pillow for her' and she even opted to lay on Nate during our regularly scheduled night-time snuggle sessions.

She perservered through me dressing her in Cabbage Patch Doll clothes when I was about 8. Lived through a house full of doggy-visitors. Many trips back to Viroqua where she set up shop in Hotel Ekern.

She even had her own special 'trick' which involved using her paw to grab single pieces of food off of my Grandma's garbage can (very advanced I know...but she is a cat and had a trick..come on people--this is impressive).

Losing a pet is never easy. But for me, I guess I have always viewed Lucy as a little piece of my Grandma, sticking around to make sure that I was doing alright and watching over me. So I guess I will view Lucy's passing as a nod from my Grandma that we are doing alright, and she really just wanted to stick around to meet Matilda.

And through all the sadness of losing a pet, that thought makes me happy and warms my heart.

5 comments:

Nate Hanson said...

Goodbye Lucy! I will always love you and your little (and not so little) meow's

Anonymous said...

SO SORRY TO HEAR ABOUT LUCY BUT YOU BOTH DID A GREAT JOB WITH HER...AND YES, I THINK IT WAS GRANDMA SHERRY'S SPIRIT WITHIN HER TOO...SO SHE'LL ALWAYS BE WITH YOU IN SPIRIT....AND WILL BE A LITTLE ANGEL ON TILLIE'S SHOULDER...SHE HAD A GREAT RUN AND SHE CAN MEOW AS LOUD AS SHE WANTS IN KITTY HEAVEN...ENJOY THE MEMORIES...LOVE TO ONE AND ALL...TOF....

Emily said...

I'm sorry to hear about Lucy. I'm glad she had a long life full of love! :)

Anonymous said...

So sorry to hear about Lucy, but I think you are right about grandma Sherry. Not only was she sticking around til you kids got dialed in, but the middle of the night meowing was preparing you for when Tillie comes sneaking in after hours. You have skills you don't even know you have...nicely done Grandma Sherry, nicely done!
Uncle Todd

Anonymous said...

Thanks-nicely put Gert! 2 GREAT older women that we had the pleasure to form lots of good memories with lots of love attached. Love, Mom