Gentle Giant

[ehowton]

We adopted Daisy at the Petsmart in Irving, Texas, 1998. She was three-years-old. Our new house seemed so big and quiet moving from our small one-bedroom apartment in New Jersey. Of course 'Daisy' wasn't our first choice of a name - it was simply the one she had when we brought her home, so we kept it. And she traveled these United States with us. From Irving, to Boyd, to Wichita, to Richardson (she spent six months in drax0r's room as his nighttime toe-licker), to Saint Louis; And finally to Anna, where she'll be laid to rest. The house feels big and lonely again without her, and I'm having a hard time coping with her absence. I know the grief will lessen a bit each day, but right now, I don't want it to.


1995-2008






Daisy babysits our son




Ensuring the toy box meets safety standards




Playing dress-up with our daughter




On her throne




Daisy bridges the gap between HP/UX & Solaris




Jump onboard the Daisy-train




Eye contact




Playing tiger in the grass




Boo!




Trying to get comfortable




Regal beauty




Playing in the catnip




You may kiss the royal head




What?




@ drax0r's




Enjoying some downtime




Hardware troubleshooting




Ikea build-out




Acceptable results




Shoe Fetish


The first time I took her outside, I bought a harness for her. That didn't work out so well. As soon as we got outside, she bolted! I tried to reel her in, like a marlin, to no avail. When she hit the end of the leash, she inverted, rose straight up in the air, disengaged from the harness, and took off like a shot. I gave up after that.

But she was a good cat, who knew where her home was.

If she didn't come in by bedtime in Boyd, we'd call her - and she'd come running to us, just as you would expect a dog to. She once cleared the half-acre lot between us touching the ground only thrice. At the pet store once I picked up a book on cats and was thumbing through it. There were pictograms depicting the activity level of each breed. Some cats were shown laying down, other's standing. The picture of the Maine Coon showed a a cat with all four feet off the ground in a full run. Yep, that was my Daisy.

As she got older she slowed down a lot. And rarely ventured outdoors this last year. Always adjacent me, she was my constant companion when I was home. Compared to other animals, she was full of grace & poise. In her gait, and in her stance. She was the most beautiful cat I've ever seen.

She had gotten sick last week and we'd taken her to the vet. They ran blood tests, hydrated her, and put her on antibiotics. We brought her home, but she wasn't getting any better. I took her back to the vet today and when they x-ray'd her they found a tumor in her lungs, next to her heart. They started an aggressive antibiotic on IV, but she didn't survive the day. Upon arriving home the first thing my boy asked me was if she was all better and if we needed to go pick her up from the vet before he could go play.

I love you Daisy.

I'm going to miss you. A lot.