My beloved Q who came before

I have been a bit emotional and weepy this past week. Q who came before kept coming to mind, and I really missed him a lot. Took me until last night to figure out why.

I was lying in bed looking at my calendar and realized that 9 and Chani's Gotcha day was coming up which then reminded me about Q's crossing of the Rainbow Bridge. You see, Q crossed the Bridge two weeks before I adopted 9 and Chani. Yesterday was the fourth anniversary of the day I had to let go of my best friend.

As the realization was hitting me, 9 was busy crawling onto my chest, showing me his backside and curling up to sleep on me.

9 is definitely my sweet, sensitive boy who can read my feelings best.

I miss you, Q. Thank you for sending 9 (and Chani and Sheamus Popoki) to me.

Flashback Friday

I decided to look at some old photos of 9 and Chani. Do you remember when they were this small? I can hardly believe it.

Chani looked so paranoid when I first adopted her. She's calmed down so much. She's kind of prissy and quite sassy, but to me, she is my little princess who I just adore.

 
They were so tiny and their fur hadn't darkened yet. I remember how they used to snuggle together. Not too much of that happens these days. 9 tends to snuggle with Sheamus Popoki. I'm not sure if Chani is grumpy because of that or the fact she has to share me and our house with two others. She doesn't really want to play with either of the boys. In fact, she tends to hiss and growl at them when they (I mean 9. Sheamus tends to avoid Chani because she tends to whap him in the head for no reason but that he was sitting next to her or is within whappable distance) want to have a good round of THoE. However, I'm not sure how much of her hissing and growling is her being truly upset or her just putting on a show. She is cunning and quite capable of getting 9 into trouble on purpose. Once, 9 and Chani were walking by my parents. 9 just put a paw on her and Chani dramatically fell over. My parents started scolding 9, saying "Be nice to Chani, 9!" as Chani got up and walked away as happy as could be and totally not hurt.  I was shocked and then, just had to chuckle. Oh, and right after I adopted both of them, 9 got in trouble for pouncing on Chani. He got scolded while Chani watched. After the scolding, 9 walked by Chani who proceeded to whap 9. 9 chased her around and she ran off. Fortunately, I saw what she did and told her, "Hey, you started that one. It's all your fault and 9 is not going to get into trouble."

Yes, I talk to my cats as if they understand me completely.

9 always had that serious look. Despite his antics, 9 has always been my main comforter and just plain sweetie pie. He can read my emotions better than any other cat and always knows when I need a cuddle. Truly, it was a blessed day when 9 chose me to adopt him. I remember holding him for the first time and 9 licking my arm. He really knew that I needed him as much if not more than he needed me.

And of course, I have to put in a kitten picture of Sheamus Popoki. He had a bit of an eye infection in this photo, but it cleared up. I am very happy to this boy with me too. A sweetie, a bit dim, but cuddly in a way that neither 9 nor Chani are. For some reason, neither 9 nor Chani like it when I try to hug them while in bed. Both squirm and run away. Sheamus Popoki is more like Q who came before that way. He lets me hug him and pet him and snuggle. When I come home from work, 9 may be the first to greet me, but Sheamus Popoki always rolls on his side and back, presenting his tummy for rubs. It's adorable and reminds me of Q who came before who always rolled over on his back for a variety of reason.

And finally, a picture of Q who came before. I miss him still and it's been over 3 years.  Fortunately, 9, Chani and Sheamus Popoki do distinct things that all remind me of him. It took 3 cats to help fill the Q sized hole in my heart.

Thank you for indulging me this flashback moment! Much more wordy that I usually am.

Spaz, 1995-2012

Spaz was an adorable kitten who belonged to a good friend. After 17 years, Spaz left us to run free across the Rainbow Bridge.

She was part of a trio made up by Q who came before and his buddy, Sylvester. The poor girl really didn't get involved with the boys too much (being a girly girl didn't help), but she did put up with them both quite well. She wasn't the brightest of kittens, but she was pretty.

Run free, dear Spaz, our former 'shiro baka neko', who turned out to be a bit smarter than we all imagined.

Q 1991-2009

Much loved and much missed.

Tuesday Time Machine

I decided to revisit some old photos (while hunting for other photos) and came across some photos of Q. Above you can see what a big boy he was. So squishy cute!

And how he liked to sleep on pillows all curled up.

And of course, when it got hot or when he felt like it, he flattened himself on his back. Of course, this helped with getting belly rubs and snorgles.

Happy Summer Solstice!

Tuesday Time Machine

Just a quick post. Years ago, Mom took some photography classes using "gasp!" black and white film! Q, who came before, was one of her favorite subjects, of course. The assignment was to do a 1 second exposure portrait. So, Mom set up a tripod, set the camera up for auto shoot, picked up Q, squished him for 1 second. She did a couple of shots and then in the dark room, merged her two favorite images.

Mom has been squishing kitties forever, hasn't she!

As for pottery, if anyone is in the Bay Area of California this weekend, and if you feel like meeting Mom in person, please visit her at the Blossom Hill Crafts Annual Spring Sale!

Tuesday Time Machine

My favorite picture of Q

Tuesday Time Machine

More scanned pictures of Q. Above is probably the first photo of Q ever. He was such a tiny thing then!

Here I am, holding him. My what huge glasses I had back then. I think this is how I got Q to deal with me hugging him and picking him up all the time. Just couldn't help myself!

Here is Q on my mom's chair when I first brought him to my parents' house. Yes, he rolled on his side and showed off that gorgeous belly a lot!


Another shot of Q's gorgeous belly. He definitely had the belly spot action going there.

Right after I lost Q, I knew I wanted to adopt right away. At the time, I just couldn't deal with having a kitty who looked like Q. I thought it would be too painful. You've seen who I ended up with, and neither 9 nor Chani have belly spots. Strange how now, I miss those spots so much!

Oh well, I am quite happy with the pair I have (though, it's so hard to not scoop up another baby who is all black or has belly spots! But, I think Chani would have issues and I have a hard enough time giving them all the attention they require... yes, I'm trying to justify not getting a new brother or sister for 9 and Chani, but perhaps when my parents settle down and not travel so much hehehe...).

Q as a baby

A few weeks ago, a friend asked me to do a video montage for her. Unfortunately, all her photos were photos... not on disc. So, I had to buy a scanner to do this project. I had already planned on buying a scanner one day, but never got around to it.

So, I've just hooked up my new Epson scanner and decided to christen it by scanning a photo of my beloved Q. When Q came into my life (from a pet store in 1991 or 1992... terrible that I can't remember, this was before I knew about adopting and such), he was about 5 weeks old. Tiny and adorable. He got a little sick when I first brought him home, but he recovered quickly and became the first love of my life. Here he is making himself comfortable on my father's alarm clock. He was such a wee thing back then!

Many years later, I took a photo of Q when he was an adult sitting atop my alarm clock, but I've managed to lose that photo. If I ever find that photo, then I'll scan it and post it.

I have so many photos of Q and his best bud, Sylvester to scan and post! Part of me can't wait to share this with you. Part of me is getting teary eyed thinking about it (not just my eyes mind you). But it will be a good journey.

Q-chan

February 21st, 2010, tomorrow will be the first anniversary of Q's crossing the Rainbow Bridge.


I was looking through some old photos and found a set taken right before I took Q to the vet's for the last time. I guess I never really noticed how old he had become when I was seeing him every day. Looking at these photos made me realize how far past his prime he had gone.

It was the right decision to have him helped across the Bridge, but of course, it still hurts. I miss you, darling Q-chan. Love always.

Q

Some people have asked me to post some pictures of Q. I have to admit, that it's been really hard to even contemplate this.  Q was the love of my life.  A partner and a friend as well as a creature I nurtured, played with and even competed with (yes, I often lost to this feline love). Even now, I still cry over him and it's been 3 months exactly since I had to say goodbye.

Q was smart and sweet, loving and devilish.  I miss him so.

As time goes on, I'm sure I'll be able to scan some photos I took of him when he was a kitten and post them.  Yes, Q preceded the advent of digital cameras so most of my photos of him are real photographs, not digital images.

For now, here's one of my favorite shots of my beloved QQ. (no, that's not a typo, that was one of his nicknames)

Blessed be, my love.