Farewell for now, our furry friend

I didn't know I was a Crazy Cat Lady until Eddie came into our lives.

When we met Eddie at FOHA, he was a special project for one of the regular volunteers, who liked to give extra attention to the cats who weren't as outgoing. And indeed he was on the screened in porch, just chilling out. He wasn't like the other cats who might run up to greet everyone who came in. Well, that volunteer certainly sold me. 

They definitely got every bit of this right. 

We got Eddie home and kept him in the office initially, so he wouldn't be overwhelmed with a whole big house all at once, not to mention a crazy dog to deal with, who'd never been around cats. He hid in the bookcase and behind the printer. But eventually he was out and about, after some days spent mostly under our bed. I lured him out with toys to chase, and his interest and trust was hard-earned. A lot of time spent laying on the bedroom floor talking to him. When he finally came downstairs on his own, I remember how happy I was to see him starting to explore his new home. 

Hiding spot in the bookcase
for the first little while.

Amy was a big impetus for getting a cat, with me being the main driver. Tod wasn't so sure he was on board with the whole thing, but he loved Eddie too, and grew to enjoy having a cat. Reed and Eddie were friends too, hanging out in the basement together, with Reed patting him on the head in what sure looked like a bit much, but which Eddie seemed to enjoy. 

It took a solid few months before Eddie would come lay next to me while I took a nap, then there was a time he would sit on a pillow on my lap, and it took much longer before he decided it was okay to lay directly on our laps. I felt like the luckiest person in the world that he decided to love me back in that way. 

What's the opposite of a nickname, which means the name you call someone is actually longer than their real name? Because Eddie was called Edwardo more often than he was Eddie. Not to mention Eddie Spaghetti, Professor Kittington and Edwardo Kitington III. We are quite bad at naming pets....Shelby had a goofy name (Aston Martin, also after the car) but the best we could do was to take her dog mama's name for her. And Eddie, well I think it just suited him. Plus I remember the day we brought him home, there was a big article about the comedian Eddie Murphy on the front page of the Washington Post's Style section, because he was getting the Mark Twain Prize for Humor. So we thought maybe it was meant to be. 

That's a face that says
"fine, I will tolerate this".

Eddie never did really like being picked up and held, but he put up with it...I like to think he knew how much it meant to us. Here at the end of his too-short life, I think being held might be painful for him so I tried to give him space. All I wanted to do was hold him and never let him go.

Some might say Eddie had an angry or unhappy look about him. But that's just how he looked, it wasn't his spirit. He was a very loving boy, the best boy.

Over the six months or so, Eddie had started running up to greet us when we came downstairs and when we got up in the morning. I called him the Walmart greeter. It took a long time for him to get to want that much interaction with us...I wish he'd had more time to get even more comfortable with us. In the morning, if we were upstairs and he heard Amy stirring in her room, he'd run down the hallway to sit outside her door. If we were already downstairs when Reed came down, he'd run up to the back of the couch to offer a good morning greeting. Eddie sometimes would sleep next to me and that felt like such a privilege too (even if it would make me feel kind of trapped under the covers). He would lay next to my hip, with his head facing the door, always. I would rest my hand on him, I hope he knew that meant I loved him. 

Helpful. 

We spent a lot of time together, the three of us, Eddie, Shelby and me, especially since the pandemic. Eddie would often come sit right in front of me when I was working on the office computer, just staring at me and completely disregarding the fact that he was blocking my work. I talked to both pets a lot. They would also follow me into the upstairs bathroom in the mornings and sometimes at bedtimes. They'd also frequently join me in the powder room downstairs. I guess they wanted to make sure I hadn't skipped out, or maybe they thought I needed really close supervision. I am going to miss that.

My favorite things Eddie did included his nighttime play time, where he would yowl SO loudly. He didn't meow often, and his meow was super quiet. The first time he did that nighttime yowl it was so surprising and wild! His purr was quiet too, you had to get really close to hear it. I am so sad I won't hear these things again. We also had a routine where I'd go upstairs to bed, get my teeth brushed, and by the time I came out of the bathroom, he'd be there waiting for me, ready to play. I kept his favorite toy by my side of the bed so he could have play time almost every night. A lot of nights as we'd watch TV, he'd also go over to his toy and bat it around to tell us "hey, somebody ought to play with me." It was also a joy to see him chase his tail and play by himself. What a guy, as Reed would say.

Buddies waiting for dinner. 

When I would give him a kiss, he would always then put his mouth up next to mine, like he was kissing me back. As I said before, he was a quiet boy, didn't meow too much and when he did it was a tiny sound...mostly he meowed in conversational greetings with me. He was also a love biter. You'd be petting him and he'd chomp on you...never to hurt, I think he thought it was a way to show love, no matter how many times I explained to him that I didn't enjoy bites. All these things about him that made him him made my heart smile. 

Always waiting for us to
come back from
walking Shelby.

As our house renovations finally got underway in the last month, I had been thinking about the great things I was going to get for Eddie once we had more space. A hammock to go in the window, a cat tree for the addition. And some kind of enclosed litter box (okay that one is more to keep Shelby from eating his poop, yuck). Now I am so sad I won't be able to do those things for him. 

Oh Eddie!

So my advice, to myself in the future, and to everyone who loves a pet, is to buy the cat tree, even if you don't have room for it. You don't know how long you're going to get to spoil your pet. Do all for them that you can. 

I am worried about how hard things will be here in August when Amy goes off to college too. I knew that having Eddie and Shelby here was going to make it easier. Eddie was always my baby, and I knew he'd help fill the void Amy will leave behind as she spreads her wings. Now I'm so sad we will miss that time together. I always talked to Eddie and asked if he'd come be my pal and sit next to me while I played Wordle and had coffee in the mornings, and he pretty much would always join me, sitting on the arm of the chair, or sometimes in my lap. How lucky I was, to have that pal time with him. How I wish there'd been more days together, but I will treasure every day we did get to have.

Best things ever –
naps and my kitty.

Today we said goodbye to Edwardo, here at home. He had lost a lot of weight in the last several months, and when I came back from 11 days away in Florida helping Jim after his hip replacement, it was clear things were pretty dire, as much as we hated to admit it. A trip to the vet confirmed cancer in his belly. Devastating. I hope we did right by him in every aspect of his life. We certainly tried our best to give him all he needed, always. 

What a beautiful boy.

Love you forever, Eddie. 

March 30, 2023 addition: This post is a celebration of Eddie's life. I wrote in detail about Eddie's passing in a Word document named "Goodbye Eddie" and saved on our My Documents folder. This is the other piece of the puzzle that is saying goodbye to my best furry friend.