Tuesday, January 1, 2008

So Long to Nala...our favorite family friend

Happy exploring the house in TN immediately upon arrival...

Nala June 2, 1994 - January 1, 2008
(Written by my Dad)
On the morning of New Year’s Day we had to say goodbye to our furry, lovable, four-legged friend NALA.
“Puss” as I liked to call her, as in “Puss N’ Boots” from the Shrek films, was in bad health and experiencing the effects of severe kidney disease from old age.
She had a human-like personality and always made sure to cuddle up with you if you had a bad day or were feeling blue.
NALA was a great bonus that came with marriage. I have never been a huge animal person and swore in my early days to never give a woman a ’shot at love’ that had inside animals. Love can change a lot of things or beliefs we had earlier in life, and we usually end up a better person or happier because of our willingness to change.
I saw a photo of NALA before I ever met her, and I swore she was either a bear or a bobcat. She was just so large. I had only ever seen the outside cat we had growing up, that we usually fed (when we remembered) and never gave water to. So you can imagine my horror when I moved in with this cat that got little exercise and ate more expensive food than I was use to eating.
In her earlier days she loved chasing around bottle caps and picking them up with her teeth. She compiled a rather large collection of them behind the washer and dryer so legend has it.
Phoenix loved making a clicking sound with his mouth to try to get NALA to come close so he could pet her. She bravely obliged more often than not.
Four years with a ’silly’ cat has shown me that animals can love, be loved, and be a true friend through thick and thin.
Our other cat BETTY naturally has been sad, down, and looking for her old friend. She has always been a scaredy cat but has really warmed up and been NALA-ish in the past week.
Thanks NALA for taking care of my girl for all of those years!
We all three + Betty miss you!

We are very sad in our house right now over the loss of Nala- she was 13 years old. This is a few days ago before Nala went to the hospital... spending time together playing in the laundry pile (she was always sweet to me, neevr scratched me or anything and actually watched over me. We often took naps, just the two of us on the big bed).


One of Nala's favorite friends, April...and one of my mom's favorite pictures. This was at 2055...Holiday time!


Here we are on the big bed, we just both had woken up from a nap and there was mom with the camera, and dad was trying to get us out the door!