My beloved Anna has died.

I got her when I was 18 years old. Our next door neighbor was moving to California and had at least five other cats, and couldn't bring all of them with her across the country...so we offered to take her Morgana, which she named after the character in the Merlin story. We renamed her "Anna" and she took to me above all others from the very first night. She hid under my bed, and then eventually came out to sleep at my side....and she did that every night for the next 13 years.

She was already a full grown cat at the time she came to live with us...so we estimated her to be at least 15 years old. Sadly, she won't see 16 years as we discovered that my beloved Anna died when we returned home from our trip to Ghana on Tuesday night.

They say that's a long time for a cat to live, 15 years.....I say it's not long enough. Whether it's a long life for a cat or not....you're never ready to say goodbye to an animal that has been that constant of a companion for your entire adult life.

She will be greatly missed.

She has traveled with me everywhere. When I was 19 years old I struck out on my own to drive to Texas from GA to meet up with Isaak who was in tech school at the time. I put her in the front passenger seat of my Blazer and she road for the next two days and 1000 miles on my lap or sleeping on the seat next to me. My constant companion.

When we lived in California during a time in Isaak's career when he deployed frequently for months at a time...there was my girl, my constant companion, always there to keep me company. She made sure on lonely nights, of which there were many during those years, to stick right close to me until I feel asleep, and then she would get up and patrol the house, keeping constant watch and inspecting every creak and noise. I was able to sleep with relative ease in the absence of Isaak knowing she would alert me to any trouble. Between her and Chief, the long months without Isaak were more bearable because I had her.

When we moved to Florida and had Sydaleigh, I wondered how she would do with a baby in the house....but she did fine. She let Sydaleigh push, pull and lay on her and never, not one time, did she ever reach out to bite or scratch her. She tolerated her with great ease.

And as the years progressively went by, and Anna grew steadily older, and we added Marvelly to the brood....she remained as patient as ever. Letting the girls pet her a little too roughly at times, lay on her like a pillow,

decorated her fur with crowns and bows....

They would stuff her into boxes and pull her around the house....

...and she patiently tolerated it all. Because we were her people. We were her people. I have no doubt for one minute that that lady was under the impression that we belonged to her, we were her family, and it was her duty to take care of us. Cats are awesomely possessive that like. Well, at least she was.

She was also under the impression that she was small. Of which she was not. Homegirl had one heck of an extra wide girth, but that never stopped her from trying to stuff herself into spaces better suited for a gerbil.

It took about ten years, but she finally accepted Isaak. Those two did not share any type of love for each other and tolerated each other at best. But during our time in Nebraska she finally came around and allowed him the privilege of petting her. At night after the girls were in bed she'd come out of our room and jump up to the couch, or stand in front of it and meow until Isaak reach down and grabbed her...and then lay curled up in his lap until we went to bed.

For reals, it was an honor to even be able to touch her. Most people didn't even know we had her, and were surprised to find out we had two cats. She did not come out from under my bed for just anyone, particularly when strangers were present. She approved of her family, and that was about it. Everyone else was unworthy of her presence.

Despite the fact that she was an indoor cat and remained inside about 98% of her life....when she did want to go outside, she made the most of it. When we lived briefly in DC I let her out onto our two story deck and she quickly bolted through the rails in hopes of chasing down a bird and ran straight up to the top of our third story roof. I quickly snapped a picture and then leaned over the deck as she barreled back down so I could catch her before she slid off the roof courtesy of her long hair and lack of claws. She also managed to get herself stuck in a sewer when we lived in GA some 13 years ago. Jordan came back from school, couldn't find Anna, heard a cat meowing from beneath a sewer cap, and had to call the fire department to get her out. 

She traveled with me since I was 18. I took her all over the United States, from one coast to the other and back again. She sailed across the Atlantic to Africa and has lived in more places and traveled more miles than most people have.

She was consistently in my life for a longer stretch of time than anyone I've ever known except for my parents and brothers. I had Anna before I became a wife or a mother. She was my most steady companion. Loyal and loving. Ever faithful and always dependable. Sleeping on my pillow or curled up at my side every night. Getting up with me every morning. And meowing at me to wake up and feed her if I dared to sleep in. Despite her age she could still book it quite fast if Amira chased her, and hold her ground to swat her back if she didn't relent.  She long ago stopped being able to jump up to our bed, so we had to leave a box next to the bed for her to climb up on, and lift her into the sink for her to get her drinks. She was worth it.

She was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism before we left Nebraska, and for the past year has been steadily losing weight as a result. She lost a lot of her girth, but lord knows she had enough hair to make up for it. Figures we'd even get the same medical problem after all our years together.

She has been with me through it all. And while I accept that she had to die...it is with great sadness that I wasn't there to see her through her death. That is what makes me most sad. That after all our years together, she had to die without me next to her. That I wasn't able to be there as she left her life with me. I sure hope that there's room in Heaven for all of God's creation...because I sure do want to see my greatest friend again.

To 13 years wonderful years together. To my most faithful and loyal friend. To my person, my Nanny Panny Fanny Wanny. My Anna. Our family greatly misses you. And I, your person, will miss you forever.