I was eleven years old when I got my best friend. It was 1983. I
was at the dentist’s office getting my braces tightened. My dentist’s
assistant asked me if I had found a new kitty yet. The last time that I
had gone to the dentist my previous kitty had run away. When I told
her that I had not found a new kitty she told me that she knew someone
who had kitties that were looking for a good home. So I went to the
lobby and asked my dad if I could have a new kitty. He said that I
would have to ask my mom. So we went home and called my mom at work.
She told me that I could have a new kitty as long as I got a male. And
she told me that we would have to get him neutered. I wondered why I
couldn’t get a female cat if we were going to get it spayed/neutered,
but I didn’t question her because I was so excited to be getting a new
kitty. My dad called the lady and told her that we did want a kitty and
asked when we could come look at them.. She said that we could come
look at the kitties right then so we jumped in my dad’s truck and
headed over there. There were only 2 males in the litter a black one
and a black/brown tabby. The black one was a little wild so I chose
the tabby. I live in a small town and we didn’t know about pet taxi’s,
so we placed him under a milk create in the back of my dad’s truck and
headed home. On the way home my dad asked me what I wanted to name
him. I told him that I didn’t know and that I should ask my older
brother what he wanted to name the new kitty. My dad told me that he
was my kitty and that I should be the one to name him. A few weeks
before we had gone to see the movie “Johnny Dangerously” and I had
really liked it a lot so I chose to name my new kitty Johnny
Dangerously. My dad suggested that we call him J.D. for short so that
was my new kitty’s name.
Four years later close to Christmas J.D. came inside the house
and his whole entire right eye was covered in pus. I waited about 15
minutes until my dad came home for his 30 minute break from work and I
showed him J.D.’s eye. My dad took J.D. to the vet. The vet was in a
smaller town that was about 10 minutes away from the small town that I
lived in. My dad wouldn’t let me go with him to take J.D. to the vet
because he was afraid that the vet would have to put J.D. to sleep and
he didn’t want me there for that. Luckily J.D. didn’t have to be put
to sleep. But the vet had to remove the eyeball and he sewed the
eyelids shut. To this day people still make an interesting face when I
tell them about my one-eyed kitty. And I tell them that it just looks
like he’s winking at you. We decided not to tell my brother because he
was coming home a few days later for Christmas break from college. When
my brother drove into the driveway he honked the horn and opened his
car door. J.D. ran to the car meowing loudly and jumped into my
brother’s lap while he was still sitting in the car. This was a normal
routine for them to do when my brother came home. But this time my
brother was surprised to see J.D. without one eye. My parents knew that
after the eye was taken out that J.D. wouldn’t last very long because
he wouldn’t see a car coming or something. But that didn’t happen. In
fact I think that his other senses doubled up to make up for the
missing eye.
The next June my cousin’s gave me a birthday card with an eyepatch
in it for J.D. I refused to put it on him but they thought that it was
the funniest thing. And from that point on they called my J.D.
“One-Eyed Willie”.
J.D. and I became the best of friends rather easily although we
got him before my teenager years and I was a little mean to him
sometimes. But through it all we managed to become closer and closer
as the years went on. When J.D. was still a young kitten I trained him
to come to me when I whistled and he did! Anytime that I could not
find him very easily or even just started looking for him at all I
would just whistle and call out his name and he would come racing to me,
meowing and purring very loudly. J.D. always meowed and purred loudly.
As always I looked forward to going away on vacations with my
family but part of me always hated to leave because I didn’t want to
leave J.D. for a week or so. My grandfather would go over to the house
while we were gone and feed him but I knew that he didn’t give J.D. the
kind of love and attention that I did. And when it came time to come
home from the vacations part of me didn’t want to leave because we were
having fun being on vacation. But a bigger part of me really looked
forward to coming home and seeing J.D. again.
J.D. was an indoor/outdoor cat. And he usually stayed outdoors,
especially at night. But during my last year in high school and when I
would go back home during college he would sleep with me on the foot of
my bed. And he didn’t seem to mind my tossing and turning he just
adjusted himself too and fell back to sleep when I did.
I ended up dropping out of college and moving back home with my
parents. It was great to be able to spend so much time with J.D.
again. But a year and a half later I met the man that I would marry a
few years later. His name is Scott. Scott lives in a bigger town that
is an hour away from the little town that my parents live in. I met
Scott in December of 1994. That fall I had being going to another
college in the same town. So when I started dating Scott I spent lots
and lots of time over there and I only slept at home. I felt real
guilty for not spending as much time with J.D. anymore but he still
slept on the foot of my bed. In December of 1995 I moved to this same
town where Scott lived. This was very hard for me because I knew that
J.D. was getting a lot older and we didn’t know how much longer he would
last. And I really wanted to spend as much time with him as I could
while I still could but I had to move on with my life! I couldn’t live
with my parents in that small town for that long! There were no real
job opportunities in the smaller town and Scott was in the bigger town
where I ended up finding work. In November of 1996 Scott and I got
married.
After getting married we didn’t go back to visit my parents very
often. I feel guilty for not spending a lot more time with J.D. but we
had to move on with our lives. But I tried to get back there every once
in a while. And as the months went on I often worried about J.D. and
when he would die and how it would happen. You heard about animals
getting sick and hiding to try to hide from the disease and end up
dieing alone and I didn’t want that I happen to J.D. I called my
parents often to check on J.D. during those last 2 years. But his time
finally came.
It was New Year’s Eve Day December 30 1997. My brother and
sister-in-law had come home for a visit a late Christmas visit. They
had arrived the day before. My brother was concerned about J.D. He
said that J.D.’s arthritis was so bad that he could hardly walk without
falling down. So they decided to take him to the vet the next morning.
Very early that next morning December 30th my brother sister-in-law
and mom all drove to the little down 10 minutes away and took J.D. to
the vet. The vet said that J.D. had pneumonia and that there was nothing
that he could do for him. So my brother and my mom agreed that it was
best to have J.D. put to sleep. J.D. was lying on the table purring
very loudly. I believe that he knew what was happening and that he knew
that it was time. The vet gave him the shot and my brother stayed there
by his side until the end petting him the whole time. My brother told
me that it only took about 30 seconds. My mom said that the vet tucked
his paws under him and they took him home.
An hour away I was getting ready for work. My husband had just
gotten out of the shower and I told him that if J.D. had to go then I
hoped that he would go now while my brother was there with him. My
husband asked me what made me say that. I didn’t know I just had this
weird feeling. About 10 minutes later my mom called. I already knew
as soon as the phone rang. Before my husband answered I told him that
it was my mom. When he handed me the phone I answered only by saying
“I know”. My mom was crying and she told me that J.D. had died. I told
her again “I know.” She explained what happened and then she let me
talk to my brother. I was surprised at first when I found out that they
had him put to sleep. But after my brother explained why I understood
and was glad. I knew that it was best that way and I trust my brother’s
judgment. My brother wrapped J.D. in a Christmas blanket and buried
him in our backyard under a tree. Later my dad put a cement headstone
flat on the ground above him and engraved his name and the dates.
J.D. was 14 years old. He lived with only one eye for 10 years.
| J.D. |