How do you say goodbye?

You know if your lucky, the cat picks you....  With that thought in mind, I went to visit a friend who had a litter of kittens.  I sat on her couch and chatted away without looking once at any of the little fur balls running around her house.  After a few minutes, my friend interrupted me and said, " you have to take a look at your lap".  I looked down and saw 2 HUGE copper eyes from the ugliest little kitten staring up at me.  My friend said, "she has been hanging on your every word since you sat down."  It was my lucky day.  I named her Jasmine - Jazzy cat for short.  What a wonderful furry friend Jazzy was.  She would come when I called her, roll over if I asked really nicely and chatted with me all day long.  She tolerated my boyfriend, now my husband when he came into my life.  She traveled all the way from Austin, TX up to Redmond, WA.  She wasn't too thrilled when I had my first daughter OR my second one.  But she would sit there calmly while they piled fabric on her furry body - purring so loud.  Of course, when our puppy Penny came along last year - she was about at her last straw.  But she came to tolerate her too.

It's been 17 wonderful years with my sweet Jazzy.  I found her in a heap in the laundry room on Thursday - one of her eyes had ruptured and as I found out at the doctor later that day, had left her blind.  With lots of love and TLC this weekend we went back to the eye doctor today.  Her poor little eye had ruptured again.  After some lab work today, they told me she can't  make it through the surgery...........................  With a heavy, heavy heart, I brought her home.  We are set to go in Wednesday so she can go to sleep and go to heaven.  How do you say good bye to such a loyal friend???...........................................................  We are all very sad - my girls told me to make sure she goes to cat heaven and not dog heaven.  She would NOT be happy if they messed that up.  :)  My dear Jazzy - all I can hope is that one day your sweet soul will find its way to me again.  For all of you who have furry friends - make sure to give them a good squeeze tonight and tell them how much you love them.