Stewart Star of the Rub-Al-Khali (aka Ruby)

A piece of my childhood died today.

Yeah, it was my precious cat. I've had her since I was 6. I mean she would have been 18 in a few weeks and that is extremely old for a kitty. And I knew when my mom took her to the vet this morning that that was probably what was going to happen. She was sick. She has been for a year. And the last few weeks, she has just really slowed down and obviously deteriorated. But yeah, sweet Ruby will be missed. I think even Ella senses that something sad is happening. Ella loved Ruby. Ruby despised Ella, but that did not stop Ella from constantly trying to gain the affections of this aging and crazy cat!

Anyways, I know it is kind of silly, but could you pray for my family in this? She has been a big part of our lives and so it is like saying good bye to a huge portion of our lives. My mom is especially sensitive to this kind of stuff so pray for her too because a lot of her life revolved around taking care of the cat and meeting the cat's needs. So yeah. I know people are dealing with bigger things than their cat dying, but many of you have been there - losing a pet hurts! My family has suffered this several times over the past 18 months with my first dog, Maya, dying 3 weeks after I got her (she was sick to begin with and I didn't know), Zeke, our 13 year old dog died last year of cancer and now Ruby. Kinda funny how the oldest pet lasted the longest!

Anyways, Ruby is in kitty heaven now (no, I'm not looking for a theological/philosophical debate on the existence of pet heaven). She will be missed!

In her honor, here's a list of things that we will miss about her:

• The way she yelled/meowed at you when she was hungry


• The way she whipped all the dogs in her life into shape into doing exactly what she wanted


• The way she would jump on your lap the minute you sat down as if you were her personal pillow


• The way she would jump around all the counters in our old house


• The way she loved my dad's BBQ chicken - I kid not


• The way she thought my Barbie Dreamhouse was her personal house


• The way she cried/meowed in her crate on every single trip to the vet


• The way she would eat Ella's dog food


• And many many more that I just can't think of right now - I mean really, how do you sum up 18 years?!?!

Coming up next is the promised Boston post! I've already started it but have yet to finish it or upload my pictures. Get excited!

*And yes, the title in my post is her full name. My brother and I were 3 and 6. My parents were trying to appease us. I wanted to name the cat Star really badly so they put it in there. She was the Stewart's cat so obviously. And the Rub-Al-Khali is a desert in Saudi Arabia that has reddish sand - Ruby's fur was kind of a similar color to it. So yeah there's the explanation in case you were wondering.