McGee

Sophie awoke from her afternoon catnap and went in search of her Meowmie.  She found her in the family den sitting on the floor next to her book shelves.  She was holding an old photo album and she was flipping the pages looking at pictures.

Meowmie looked up when Sophie came into the room and said to her, "What beautiful old pictures.  I am happy that my mother gave me her old photo album.  Look!  Here is a picture of me when I was a little girl."

Sophie came over and looked at the picture with her Meowmie.  "Purrs, she mewed, you were a very pretty girl when you were young. Look at the big bow in your hair."

"Sophie, this album brings back a lot of memories for me.  My family and old childhood friends have pictures in here too.  I also have pictures of my childhood cats.  Would you like me to tell you about them as I show you their pictures?"

Sophie curled up next to her Meowmie and Meowmie began to tell her about her memories from when she was a young girl and about the cats that she had loved...  

Midnight and Me

Sam

First, there was Midnight, a large, sleek, solid black cat with round yellow eyes like that of an owl. Her shiny coat was very thick, medium in length. Sophie thought Midnight was one of the most beautiful kitties she had ever seen.

After gazing at Midnight's picture a little while, Sophie asked Meowmie to tell her all about the beautiful Midnight.

"Well," began Meowmie, "one day I received a frantic telephone call that a beautiful mother cat had been hit by a car and she left three precious little kitties behind. These poor little kitties were only three weeks old and needed their fur mommy to feed them."

"I helped feed the baby kitties and then one day, Midnight came home with me. Oh, Sophie, she was so tiny and sweet. She cuddled right on my lap all the way home."

"I used to tell my friends that I taught her everything she knew because I really did. I even taught her how to wash herself with her paws."

"One day, when Midnight was about 14 years old, she didn't come home when I called. I searched and searched, called and called, cried and cried, but Midnight never came home again. I know that she is at Rainbow Bridge right now, purring away while we are talking about her."

Sophie said she would like to hear more about the beautiful Midnight one day, but right now...

Sisters by artist Ruby Claire

McGee

she noticed a picture of two cats titled "Sisters". "Who are these two kittens? she asked. One of them looks just like me."

"Oh, Meowmie said, these are two calico kittens that my parents adopted for me when I was first married to your deowdie many years ago before I had children. The two kittens almost looked like twins. It was very hard to tell them apart except for their dispositions. One of them was a very high energy cat and the other was very affectionate. Their names were Mary and Martha. The affectionate one was Mary and the very active one was Martha. Mary is your great-grandmother. She snuck outside one day and I could not find her. I was so heart broken. Deowdie finally found her two streets away living in a neighbor's garage. She was so happy to come home. Then, we found out that she was going to be a mommy many months later."

"My, purred Sophie. She was such a pretty cat. I look just like her! If she was my great-grandmother, where is a picture of my grandmother?"

Meowmie turned the pages and showed Sophie a picture of another pretty cat. "Here she is, Meowmie said. You will notice that she is not a calico cat. She is a...

Sunshine

McGee

pretty yellow cat named Sunshine. Look, she has white under her face. She had a very pleasant disposition. She was a very good mother to her kittens.

Meowmie, how come you never let me go outside? Are you afraid that I will have kittens too?

After losing my cats because they were outdoor cats, I found that indoor cats live longer. That is why you never go out. Plus I had you spayed when you were under a year old. Look how old you are getting now.

Oh, Meowmie, I am not that old. Who is my meowmie? I do not remember her...

Silky

Shibui

"Your mother was one of Sunshine's last kittens. She was a calico, with long silky fur and jade green eyes. You were her first and only kitten."
Sophie asked, "Do you have a picture of her?"
"Yes," said her meowmie, "but it is in the box of photographs in my closet. Wait here while I will get it." Sophie waited patiently, until her meowmie returned carrying a large box. She sat down next to Sophie and removed the lid from the box. It only took her a few minutes to find the photograph she was looking for. "I took this picture of you and Silky when you were only a few weeks old. Look how tenderly she is licking your ear."

"Oh Meowmie," said Sophie, "that is a wonderfur picture! Will you frame it for me?" Her meowmie said, "...

McGee

"Of course, I will. We can put it in our computer room with your picture. Your fur mom was a very good cat. We had her neutered after she weaned you. But, one day when you were still a kitten, she found her way outdoors. I had always kept her indoors because so many of my other cats got lost or killed when they were outdoor cats. Your deowdie and I never saw your meowmie again even though we searched for her and went to visit the local animal shelter. My hope is that she found a new home and her new owners treated her kindly."

"I do not remember her, Sophie replied but I can see from this picture that she was a very beautiful cat. Her eyes were green and mine are blue/green. I hope that she found a good home too. Meowmie, how long did your other family cats live and could you tell me stories about them now that I know what they looked like...

Pupa Muma Aamose

Well, Sophie, I think that is enough stories for one day. Let's go make tuna sandwiches. Then we can just sit in the garden and eat them, and think about the cats you have met today. And while we are at it, lets take some more pictures of you too for the scrapbook. Sophie thought this was a lovely idea. She and her meowmie went to the kitchen, and....

McGee

Sophie's meowmie let her drink the water from the tuna can. Meowmie made some sandwiches and then Sophie and she went down back to sit on the garden bench in the shade garden under the maple trees. Birds were flitting through the branches and the shade garden was coming back to life after sleeping all winter.

"Sophie, look how the day lillies and violets are beginning to come back to life. Each season has meanings and spring brings renewal. In the corner of this shade garden are burial sites of my departed cats that I have known and loved. In the rear right hand corner are the two sisters Mary and Martha. I still cry when I come to the shade garden, but now my tears are tears of joy. I endured grief when they passed over to the Rainbow Bridge.

"Meowmie, what is grief and what is the Rainbow Bridge," Sophie asked, sensing her meowmie was about to cry...

McGee

Grief is part of life as is joy. When I lost the two sisters I tried to remember all of the joy and companionship that they gave to me. I was not ashamed to cry over the loss of my two girls. My children were very young then and grieved with me also as the two girls had become their pets too. We held a small burial service in the shade garden for them. We found a wonderful statuary of two kittens at play and placed it in their burial site. Every year we would hang a plant over their burial site and remembered the two sisters Mary and Martha and shared our memories of them together. One joy that we still had was Sunshine. We cherished our time with her too.

Meowmie, that is a very special story that you just told me. I am glad that you had my human sisters and brothers and deowdie with you to share the good and bad times with Mary and Martha. Pets are just as special as your own children, aren't we?...

Sam

Oh, yes! Pets certainly are just as special as our human children, Sophie. When I was younger, I had all sorts of pets. I had rabbits, fish, hamsters, gerbils, birds of all kinds, dogs, and of course kitties! They were all loved and each had their very own special place in my heart. They still are in my heart, Sophie, because I know they are all waiting for me at Rainbow Bridge and we will all be together one day. Isn't that wonderful to know? Just think, Sophie, you will get to meet them all! You will meet your fur meowmie, Silky, your grandmeowmie Sunshine, Mary and Martha, and all of the beautiful kitties in this photo album. Won't that be...

Blackie

Mary and Martha

Silky

Sunshine

McGee

Sophie, I have memorized a lovely poem about the Rainbow bridge. Do you wish me to recite it to you?
Oh, yes Meowmie, I would like that. Can you put that poem in the album too for my cat ancestors?
Yes, we will add the poem too. Listen now as I recite it.

Just this side of Heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.
When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food and water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable. All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.
The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing: they miss someone very special to them; who had to be left behind.
They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. The bright eyes are intent; the eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to break away from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster. YOU have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.
Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together......."
(~Paul C. Dahm)

Sam

Oh, mews, meowmie. That is such a lovely poem. Whenever I hear of a kitty going to Rainbow Bridge from now on, I will know that kitty is happy. And there is no reason anymore to feel like I will never see my fur meowmie and fur grandmeowmie again - because I will! Oh, thank mew, meowmie. Now I want to...

McGee

Have my picture taken for the album. I will enjoy being one of the cats in it. You could say that I am joining my family. Thank you for sharing some of your memories of them. Could we hold a memorial service for them? Let's plan one for this evening or tomorrow.

Why Sophie, that is a marvelous idea. I have not held a memorial for them since my children left home for college and marriage. They don't live too far away and maybe they can join us for the service. Let's go into the house so that I can call them. Memorial Day is tomorrow. Maybe they will be able to come. Meanwhile, after I call them, we can make some wonderful flower sprays for their sites. I have several annuals in the sunporch that we can use for them.

That sounds wonderful, Meowmie. Let's get started. Maybe we can also...

McGee

plan a memorial for the cats every year and make it a special event like they do for humans on Memorial Day.

Sophie, that is a good idea to pass on to other families who have lost their beloved pets over the Rainbow Bridge. There are several web sites that have memorials for pets on their pages. I will check out which site that I want our Blackie, Mary, Martha, Sunshine and Silky to be placed on for memorials. I might even write my own memorial page and publish it. I found out about the Rainbow Bridge for animals when I had you join CLAW. I will make sure that you get more active in CLAW. CLAW members are good supporters of pet loss and help each other cope with it. They even have a Memorial Chapel for cats who have crossed over to the Rainbow Bridge.

That would be great for me to get active in CLAW, Meowmie. Now, let's call my human brothers and sisters. I am part of their family too. Does any of them have pets like me? We are now a big family. Memorial Day is about family and remembrance of loved ones who have passed away.

Yes, Sophie, we must keep our memories of loved ones who have passed over the Bridge alive. Loss is a part of life!

Sophie, six months

The story of Sophie was written from 03 April 2002 to
03 June 2002 and is dedicated to Lloyd, an active member of
CLAW,co-leader of the OCS and editor of the OCS chain stories.
Lloyd passed over the Rainbow Bridge in December 2001.

The midi is playing "Memories" sung by Elvis Presley.