Rigby

The past few days have been difficult.  Like usual life is full of surprises, continually reminding us how short our time is, and how precious a gift each and every day is.  On Wednesday morning when Dwyatt and I left for work our two kittens ran outside as usual.  They have a kitty door so that they can wander in and out during the day.  Some may think this is unnecessary to give the this freedom, but after seeing the joy on their little faces from being outside and playing in the grass, I didn't have the heart to keep them locked inside.  When Dwyatt and I made the decision that they would get to be outside all day we knew it was a risk.  However it was a risk we said we were willing to take.  After all, what does it mean to live a long life, if that life is spent constantly locked inside, too afraid to let them go? 

Anyway, when we got home Wednesday night Rigby wasn't here.  We hoped he would come home that night, but on Thursday morning when we got up to leave he still wasn't here.  I was worried sick of course, but I was hopeful that he just got locked in a neighbors garage over night or something.  Well, when we got home Thursday he still wasn't home.  So, we started walking around the neighborhood calling for him and asking neighbors if they had seen him.  Eventually one of our neighbors told us that he had in fact seen Rigby, and that he didn't make it.  My poor baby Rigby was gone. 

Oh how I loved that little white kitten!  The house just seems so quiet without him around.  Although I get a little bit stronger every day, I still miss him desperately.  I miss him most when I get up early in the morning and come out on the couch to drink my coffee and read a book before Dwyatt wakes up.  Rigby had more personality than any cat I have ever known, he would follow me all over the house, and sit with me where ever I went.  He LOVED attention, I use to call him my attention hog because he constantly wanted to be held, petted, and loved on.  He was happiest when you coddled him like a baby doll and carried him with you where ever you went.  If you slept in later than he liked, he would stand on your chest and put his nose to your nose, and repeatedly "head butt" you or lick your cheeks until you woke up. 

Besides being held, his favorite activity was to sleep.  He slept all the time, usually turned upside down in some kind of very awkward but absolutely adorable position.  He would let you come lay next to him and he would just roll over and snuggle with you.  Every night that we were at home, he would go crawl in our bed around 8:30pm and go to sleep.  That was his bedtime, and if you were staying up late to watch a movie or something, you had to drag him out of bed to hang out with you.  Then he would of course just go right back to sleep on your lap. 

When Rigby wasn't sleeping he loved to chase frogs, grasshoppers, and unfortunately one red bird.  We have a small "pond" (actually it's a large puddle) at the end of our driveway that has frogs in it every summer.  Rigby spent all his summer evenings splashing in the puddle and catching frogs.  I was fine with this until he brought one in the house for me one day.  I screamed, yelled at him, and made Dwyatt take the frog back outside.  Although probably the worst thing about Rigby chasing frogs was that he always came back into the house soaking wet and half covered in mud. 

I don't think I'll ever understand why my little white kitten had to love getting dirty so much.  It was either splashing in mud puddles, digging in the flower beds, or rolling in plies of charcoal ash from the grill.  Ugh!  Needless to say, Rigby got good at getting a bath.  He probably had a bath about every 2 months of his little life, and I think he actually half enjoyed them.  He was always happy to splash in water, play with the faucets, and enjoy water in general.  Poor little thing looked so pathetic when he was soaking wet though, that usually after a bath he got dried with the hair dryer. 

Another thing that was so funny about Rigby was how much he loved luggage.  Any kind of luggage, be it a suitcase, backpack, laptop bag, gym bag, or even just a box, Rigby wanted to be in it.  If you even left the corner of the bag cracked open he would push his way in there an then just lay there either until you made him move, or until his brother Remington came and jumped on him.  Rigby and Remi were big buddies, they would constantly chase each other around the house, wrestle, and growl at each other, but the second that one pinned the other one, he would start licking him.  Whoever was pinned got a bath whether they wanted one or not!  It was the perfect picture of brotherly love and I can tell that Remington already misses his brother very much. 

I know this is the longest blog post ever, but not only did I want to share my memories with all of you, but I want to have this to look back on and remember one day.  I know time will heal the pain, but I know it will also dull the memories, and I never want to forget all the silly quirks about this lovable cat.  He was a wonderful little guy, and I thank the Lord for the short time I got to have him in my life.  He brought such joy and happiness to our home, and I know that I will see him again someday.  Until then, rest in peace Rigby, I hope you are enjoying an endless supply of frogs, naps, and Whisker Lickers :)