When you have a pet as long as we did, I just have to post a little about her. This is the only photo we have of Megan from the first 8 years of her life, and it was taken in Jay's garage apartment on Highway 12 in Starkville, MS on 11-1-95. He paid $150 a month for that place. Anyway, we had talked some about getting a kitten, and one day I came home from studio and instead of one there were two sitting there. Jay really wanted the calico, but she had a sister kitten who was in bad shape and probably wasn't going to make it. The girl who was giving them away said that they were tight friends...and so Jay, the softie, took both of them off her hands. They were both so tiny. Jay named the calico, Irie. We couldn't come up with a name for the other one, so she went without a name for a week or so. Until we drove down to Jackson for the fair. It is such a vivid memory in my head. We loaded up in Jay's Honda Accord, and I had a big laundry basket in my lap with these two sitting in it. And I could pick them up and hold them in one hand. While we were home, Jay's dad took it upon himself to give the second kitten a name. Megan.
These two hung with us at MSU until Jay graduated in 1997. Then they headed to Jackson while Jay worked construction. Then down to New Orleans in 1998 when Jay started law school. I graduated in 2000 and spent the summer down there with Jay, and that is when we lost Irie. She slipped out the front door of the house one day, and we never found her. Jay, Rusty and Megan stayed in New Orleans while I moved to DC. Then Jay followed without the animals. In that time, they set up homes with our parents:) until we moved here to Atlanta. My dad drove Rusty over...and maybe Megan. It was so long ago I can't remember.
Megan was always Jay's cat. Sally has always ribbed me about being jealous of Megan, and I laughed because there was some truth to it. Megan only had eyes for Jay, and I had never owned an animal that could care less about me. I can see Jay and Megan in a thousand different settings..him lying down and her sitting on his chest. Purring with her eyes half open.
You get so used to your animals being there and time passes. Then one day you look up and you realize just how old they have gotten. Megan had gotten skinny, but she still insisted on sleeping outside with the dogs. The past few months I had started picking up cans of tuna fish to fatten her up. And when doling out scraps, always giving her some as well. Without a doubt, about an hour before "dinner time" I would hear her voice at the back door. And that little head sitting there meowing at me.
Friday night I went out to feed the animals, and when I picked her up I saw immediately something was wrong. I went inside to open up her some tuna fish for a treat, but I just couldn't bring myself to say anything to Jay. But Jay went outside to pet her and within a minute he was standing in the dining room holding her. Both of us had tears in our eyes. We had a big fire going, and Jay laid her on the rug..and stayed beside her all night. Petting her. Then the next morning let her out to go to the bathroom. She never came home. That feeling knowing your pet is gone is the worst. All the little things in the background that they did..just goes silent.
She was a sweet girl. I hope she is swinging on some metal blinds with Irie somewhere up there:)
2000 and headed
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