Loss. The largest bump in the road. The toughest lump in your throat to swallow. And the most difficult pain to overcome.
They say when you lose a pet it prepares you for losing a person in your life, whether that be a family member or a friend. But for me, losing a pet is losing a family member.
My cat Link passed away last week. He wasn't just a cat.
Link was by my side for almost 18 years. He was there when I was just a little girl and he was there to see me grow into the young woman I am today.
My parents brought him home to three little girls in 1996. We would dress him up in doll clothes and jewelry and he accepted it for what it was. He even fell in love with one of our pink doll cradles and slept in that thing every day, right up until the day he died.
Every time I came home after having a bad day at school, he would follow me to my bedroom and cuddle me while I cried it out. When I was a little girl I told people at school that my cat gave massages, because he would cuddle right up against me and knead my neck.
But he would also hog your pillow while you were sleeping and it didn't take us long to learn not to try and take it back. If he wanted your pillow, he was taking your pillow.
He was stubborn. He would come to the door of my bedroom and sit there and wait for me to invite him in a few times before he'd finally give in. Even though I knew he wanted to come in.
If I brought a McDonald's cheeseburger home he'd go crazy for it. That was the only time I saw him get aggressive. He was having a piece of that cheeseburger and that was that.
He also loved pepperoni pizza, but just the pepperoni. If you gave him pepperoni that wasn't on a pizza, it wasn't the same.
He was a black cat with big beautiful yellow eyes. Some of the neighbours thought he was cursed. But he really just wanted to roll around in their yards.
No matter what we did, what we looked like, or what mood we were in, Link was always there and full of love. He accepted us for who we were and loved each of us unconditionally. He was family.
Even after I moved out, every time I would visit he got out of his cradle and headed in my direction to say hello. Even in his old age when it wasn't as easy for him to get up and down, he never failed to greet me.
As hard as it has been to let him go, I know he had a great life and he was happy. There is no better feeling than that.
I once had a friend whose mother said she didn't want to have pets because it hurt too much when they died, and she didn't want her daughter to go through that.
But when you look at the big picture, you're providing the pet a wonderful life. And the pet provides a one-of-a-kind relationship and unconditional love in return.
I am grateful to have been raised with Link and I only hope that one day when I have children they will be able to grow up with pets as well.
