Jasmine

There is SO much running through my mind tonight... SO much.

I decided to get out my pen and notebook/journal after I wrote that sentence and I feel so much better. It's amazing what journaling/praying/etc. can do to your mind.

On to what I really want to share tonight...

We said goodbye to the sweet family cat, Jasmine, today. Eighteen years ago, my sister snuck her into the house and a week or two later (or may just a day or two, I don't remember), my sister brought her out to show mom. I remember it clearly, and my mom fell in love with the cat and could never be mad! :) Kudos for taking that chance, sis!

We had a cat before Jasmine, but he was a boy cat and I think it was me who insisted on naming him Peaches. In my elementary mind, it made sense because he was peach, how clever and fun, right? My parents must have cringed at my insistence. It feels very strange to even be saying "him" referring to Peaches... Maybe that's what did him in, he knew that Peaches was not a manly name and resented us for it by marking his territory all over the house. It also could have been that we introduced a loud obnoxious and highly over-active golden lab, half way into his life. Whatever the reason, my parents couldn't handle him spraying everything and ended up bringing Peaches, the male cat, to a farm or something. He probably last only 10 years, at best, with us.

After that, I think mom kind of threw out a statement like, "We're not having a cat again!" .... So, when Karen snuck a kitty in the house 18 years ago, I kept my mouth shut. Honestly I don't remember if I even knew for very long before my mom did about Jasmine. But, like I said above, I remember Karen bringing Jasmine into the kitchen where mom was, to break the silence! :) I'm pretty sure she laughed and smiled and fell in love with the sweet little cat right away.

She started out as Karen's cat, was living with her away from mom and dad's for awhile, but when she got married, Jasmine couldn't live at the new apartments. Mom and Dad took her in "temporarily", and I was still living at home so I also got to live with this cat. I remember that she would often sleep on my back and sometimes it was really annoying and I'd throw her off, but other times I didn't mind. When I eventually moved out, there were times I missed her sleeping on my bed or on my back. She was a comforter and really loved people. Grown people that is... when she was quite little, big giant cats tormented her, and toddlers reminded her of them... apparently. Whenever my nieces and nephew would get close, she'd hiss and paw at them.

Jasmine mellowed out in the last couple of years. When we(me, Ryan and Greta) moved in this past summer, she didn't B-line it to the basement when Greta came around. We were all stunned when she let Greta pet her... eventually she let Greta even hold her and hug her without a peep. But, I never would have thought this last gesture would ever happen.... Greta had sneaked downstairs and upon my finding her on my dad's bed, there was Jasmine curled up on Greta's lap. Unbelievable, and sweet and beautiful.

I'm trying to wrap this up and tie it in with my mom, because honestly it is hard to lose Jasmine because she was so close to mom. Night after night for many years she'd sit in mom's lap while watching TV, etc. And, during the last months of mom's life, she was right there... and the last days I don't think she moved at all, except to use the litter box. She was on the bed during our few day vigil with mom. And now? I want to believe she is sitting on mom's lap somewhere....