When we first saw Jazzy, I was about 9-10 years old. She was playing in the street. She was a beautiful, friendly black and white kitten (about 6 mos. old) and she was in danger of being hit by a car. I brought her in the house, but my parents said we couldn’t keep her. I felt such a connection with Jazzy that I was crying and begging my parents to agree to keeping her. They finally caved and she became our first pet.
Fourteen days later, we found another black and white kitten in the bushes, who we adopted right away as a friend for Jazzy. We called her Kitty.
About a year later, we were in the mall just shopping around. We walked into the pet store and there was this bunch of orange, funny-looking kittens. I asked my mother to buy one and she said no. She didn’t want any more cats. I begged and pleaded with her, and she finally decided to buy one. We called that cat Buttons.
A year after that, we bought our first dog, Holly, from the same pet store.
Two years later, we found our last cat, a multi-color fat one that we called Chips, running under people’s cars outside our house.
As time went on, they all developed their own personalities:
Jazzy was quiet, but very friendly towards us.
Kitty was overly friendly toward my mother, Buttons and Holly.
Buttons was Miss Popularity. All the animals loved her.
Holly was the “bimbo” of the group. She was always a little more confused than the cats. She’s just hyper and excited 24/7.
Chips was the baby. We all still call her “kitten.”
Anyway, in August of 2002, Jazzy began to get really sick. Needless to say, her thyroid disease took control of her system and we had to put her to sleep at age 13. This was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. My mother and I were crying because this was our Jazzy. Our first cat. We would be lost without her.
Seventeen days later, Buttons fell ill and we had to put her to sleep, too (at age 12). Her liver disease had taken control of her system and she was extremely sick. I still can’t believe that we lost two pets in the same month and only days apart.
My heart still aches when I see their picture or when I see a cat that resembles them. The hardest thing to watch was Kitty trying to look for Buttons and Jazzy. She spent most of the day looking for them and got very thin and depressed. Chips and Holly were doing well.
Kitty took it the worst.
It’s been almost a year now since their passing and I know that I’ll never forget them. We are lucky enough to still have Kitty, Holly and Chips, but Jazzy and Buttons will remain in my heart and
the hearts of my family forever.
TO JAZZY AND BUTTONS: We miss you very much and
we all love you.
Missing and loving you always,
| Jazzy and Buttons |
| The Monteiro Family |