my Pogo

Yesterday morning, around 6:35, my kitty Pogo died. We were both lying on the floor by the heater, which is what we do in the morning because it's the warmest spot in the house. I think she just went to sleep, warm and cozy, and didn't wake up. When I got up to take a shower I went to pet her and she was dead.

I know a lot of people who have lost parents, spouses, and friends in the last year, and I know that the death of a human being who is close to you must be absolutely devastating. I know all this, but still, I hope that no one thinks I'm being frivolous or melodramatic when I say this: it feels like I've lost my best friend.

We got Pogo in the spring of 1989, when I was in kindergarten. My mom and I brought her home from the SPCA, and we thought she was a boy until her first visit to the vet. We named her Pogo because she boinged around all over the place, like a pogo stick. She liked to chase strings and attack my hair, but she was also a cuddly kitty who was not at all afraid of people. She loved tuna and pork loin and really any meat that humans normally eat. She got fat one summer while we were at Camp, and stayed nice and fat right up until she got sick about a year ago. We called her Pugs and Pogopotamus. Her favorite game was playing Pat Pat at the top of the stairs, and she would loudly demand to play it whenever possible. She loved Christmas and sitting under the Christmas tree, climbing ladders, sitting in boxes, and hiding in bags. She liked to sit on things, like papers and sweatshirts, or my homework, when possible. The more you needed to use it, the more she would sit on it. She would push my door open in the middle of the night and sleep on my bed, usually right on my pillow or directly next to my face.

More than anything, Pogo liked to be with us. She never just sort of sat on your lap; she would sit right on your chest and sometimes stretch out a paw and touch your face, just to make sure you were hers. She hated it when we left, and would sit next to our packed suitcases and cry as we got ready to go on vacation. She would be waiting at the top of the stairs when we got home. When she was sick, all she wanted was to be petted and snuggled.

The best thing about Pogo was that she was always there, and she was always ready to make you feel better when you were blue. Purrs were in no short supply with her. I don't really remember life without her, at least not specifically. I remember events from before kindergarten, obviously, but I don't remember how it feels to not have a Pogo. If yesterday and today are any indication, it completely sucks.

We burried her in a box, because she liked boxes so much, and we burried some Christmas tree branches with her, so that she would always be sitting under the Christmas tree. I painted a stone marker for her; I used my favorite stone from when I was a kid, one that was perfectly flat on one side and perfectly round on the other. She's in a sunny part of the garden, right next to Penny, our kitty who died when I was in 8th grade, so they will forever be in the sun.

I will miss her meows and her snuggles and her soft, soft fur, and how she would keep me company every morning next to the heater. She was a great friend, and a perfect cat, the likes of which we'll never find again.

Sleep softly, my Pogo Bear. I love you.




Comments:

Adam PB: Fuck. I am sorry to read this. Kitty cats should be made so the death feature is optional.

Don't worry too much about feeling melodramatic. I cried more over the death of my cat than I did for all the humans I've lost combined. Species is irrelevant, it's your kitty, dammit.

The Book of Romans says there's a heaven for animals...


Ellen: Man, I'm so sorry. I've been through that, and it just sucks. Take comfort in the fact that you were able to be there with her, and don't feel bad that the loss of a pet could make you so upset. I think most people with pets will tell you that they love their pets more than they love most of their friends, and losing that is really, really hard.


denali_99755: :(

i have a kitty who will probably go pretty soon. and likely i won't be there. but given my ability to deal with that kind of thing, the distance might be a blessing.

i don't think you're being melodramatic at all. losing a good kitty is like losing the most loyal, unconditional friend you could ever have.



Min: Goodbye Pogo, I'm glad I met you once.

allergens and disgustigens

The above photo is the quintessence of gross. Danielle and I are in the Lake Merritt Albertson's, obtaining the ingredients for nachos, because sometimes nachos are required when your life has little if any purpose. Dano decides that coconut ice cream is also a necessity. I disagree, and anyway, coconut ice cream is not to be found. We do find, however, this tub of helado maiz y queso, or for the non Spanish-speaking crowd, corn and cheese ice cream.

CORN AND CHEESE ICE CREAM. We immediately decide to buy it.

Now, corn and cheese ice cream is not your typical ice cream flavor. I have seen many an interesting ice cream in my time, such as ham (speaking of Spain...), clove, and *GAG* pickle. But I think corn and cheese really takes the proverbial cake here. Corn is a passable fruit/vegetable-type-thing, but cheese? Good god. A dairy-based product should never be flavored like another dairy-based product. You might argue this point by saying that Butter Pecan is a grand ice cream flavor, but you must remember that you're arguing to a girl who has never had real ice cream in her life, let alone Butter Pecan. Allergies, people, allergies. But that is besides the point.

We go back to Dano's apartment and fall asleep watching 13 Going On 30, which is like a bad version of Big with a slightly funny dance scene in the middle, despite what Joey has to say about it. We forget about the ice cream. In the morning, I am about to leave when we remember it, and it becomes our breakfast. Yes, I ate the ice cream. A whole spoonful. Yes, it made me feel gross, because I was allergic and because it was disgusting. It had literal chunks of corn in it and was strangely sweet with an odd cheesy aftertaste. Horrors.

I invite each and every one of you to tell me the grossest ice cream (or hell! the grossest THING!) you have ever tasted, and I'm willing to bet that corn and cheese ice cream will beat all of them out as the most ill-conceived product ever.

But anyway.

Dano and I might be going to Chicago for Spring Break. Well, my Spring Break and her sort-of Spring Break. Who knows. We shall see.

Yesterday Nathan (Nathan Matsuda! in San Francisco!) and Taylor and I tried to go see The New World, but it was not to be, and Nathan and I just ended up going to Mel's and talking about geeky film things for a long time. I'm so glad he's here, because even if I don't see him much, he's someone from my other life, the one I miss more than anything... and even if it's just every now and then, I'm happy to have a porthole onto that existence. Not to sound too sappy or anything. We might drive down to LA for President's Day weekend, because he wants to see Fuchs who is there for the quarter and I want to see everyone I didn't see enough of at New Year's. So perhaps that will be happy.

Corn and cheese ice cream, though... seriously.

-Cam