Booberry

Last May on a snowy evening at the farmhouse E heard a little cry from the long grasses as we were unloading our car. He went to investigate and found a tiny stinky black kitten. She was scared and wet and cold. Our hearts melted and we brought her into the house and gave her a bath and some cat food.

Over the next few days she got sicker and sicker and her smell got worse. We were afraid she was dumped by her owners because they knew she was sick. Once we returned home with a cat we knew we could not keep (we already had three) we took her to the vet. An $8.00 shot of antibiotics and rest for a few days made her good as new.

E and I needed to find her a home, before we became too attached. She was one of the sweetest cats we had ever met. Because my family had lost their old kitty not too long before, we asked them if they wanted to adopt this little black girl. They were hesitant, she wasn’t a tiny kitten, more likely four months old, and she had been sick and would need a few more days of rest away from their other pets.

Finally they decided that they would try her out, and give her a home. E and I were so happy! It would have been heartbreaking to give her to the Humane Society only in hopes that she’d get a home. Well she fit right in. My youngest brother Ch fell in love with her. She was so playful and very silly. Everyone adored her. As soon as she could meet the other pets, we found out that she loved dogs. She followed our dog Bingo around for hours trying to get his attention.

They decided to name her Boo.

Boo stole everyone’s heart. She ran everywhere and never gained an ounce. She was a very happy kitty. My dad originally didn’t want another cat, but he fell the hardest for her. And Boo loved my dad back.

Last night my dad called wailing over the phone. I heard Mogha died. “What?” I asked getting instantly scared. “Magaa died!” “Mom died! How?” My heart fell, I couldn’t breathe. “No, Boo died, in the clothes dryer.”

I didn’t know what to say. I was so happy that my mom was still alive, I thought for a few horrible seconds that she was gone. But now the reality, Boo had died. I told my dad I’d be right over, and then I sobbed into E’s arms. I sobbed because I had thought I had lost my mom, and was so happy it was Boo, not her. I sobbed because I was so happy, and finally I sobbed the hardest because my sweet little kitty Boo had met a terrible fate.

She had died, spun around in the hot dryer, scared to death, until she died. It just broke my heart. It made me sick to think about. We drove up to my family’s house, and everyone was in tears. My dad was sobbing, Ch was sobbing, B was outside sobbing behind the garage, M was holding her boyfriend sobbing, and my mom was sobbing. I hugged my mom, and told her how happy I was she was alive, because I thought for a horrible moment she had gone.

We all tried to comfort each other, but to no avail. I couldn’t cry anymore. I couldn’t think. Booberry was gone. My dad had had a horrible day, he was very sad about the divorce, and now this. Ch broke my heart when he said “why, now? She was only one, and why now? When everything else is going on?”

I left broken hearted. I told E it was okay to cry, he loved Boo as much as any of us, after all, he’s the one that found her on the cold snowy day less than a year before. Finally when we got home, E’s tears came. They dripped down his cheeks. Mabel, one of our most loved cats, came over to see what was wrong, and licked the tears off his eyelids. I think she was trying to tell us all kitties got to heaven.

Photo caption: Boo and me right after her first bath at the farmhouse.