Boo found us in October 2002 just after our first wedding anniversary while we were still poor college students living in married student housing. Technically we weren't allowed to have pets other than fish, so we considered giving her the name Fish so we wouldn't be breaking the rules. After some more consideration we arrived on the name Boo due to the time of year and also because of her Halloween coloring. I didn't want a long haired cat but from the get go Boo had such a great personality that we just couldn't see not keeping her. Our parents weren't very impressed with the first photos we emailed them of her, she wasn't exactly a pretty cat in the beginning. We had to cut out a lot of burrs and mats in her long hair so she had large missing chunks of fur, was super scrawny, and then was shaved from her armpits down on her stomach when we had her fixed. Let's just say she got prettier :)
She's been a part of our lives for the past decade and has been a part of a lot of big events in our lives. I remember the morning of David's college undergrad graduation in December 2002 when we woke to the sound of her vomiting up worms which caused my sympathetic puker husband to sympathetically puke along with her. Thank God the vet was open that Saturday morning for an early morning call! I'm glad to say that after that incident she was done with worms, though she kept her big appetite. She moved with us from Idaho to Salem where she learned the joys of large second story apartment windows. A year after she adopted us we brought home our dog Zoe and she quickly showed the puppy who is boss. In fact Boo will show every animal alive who is boss and has reigned Queen Bee in our household for the past decade. She was there when we brought home Grace from the hospital and took to the baby quicker than poor Zoe. She's willing allowed our children to chew on her tail, sit on her, haul her around, and generally manhandle her for the past seven years without a single bite/scratch/hiss. For that reason alone she should be up for sainthood!
Boo loved popcorn and licking the insides of yogurt cups (or the kids' breakfast bowls if I didn't get them in the sink quick enough). Her favorite napping spots were behind the sliding glass door curtain, the dining room chairs next to the sliding glass door, my lap, and inside boxes/paper bags. She had the cutest paws with fur that stuck out between her toes and hated being in the car and other cats. She put up with Dexter when we brought him home a little over a year ago though she grumpily put him in his place and let him know where he fell in the animal hierarchy of our house. Most nights she would sleep near us in our bed, either on the windowsill above our bed or on my pillow. A couple of mornings I even found her snuggled under the covers with me.
Boo was a good cat and will be sorely missed. Grace especially was fond of her and took the news pretty hard when we told the kids last night that Boo was very sick and would most likely not be around much longer. I'm so thankful that David volunteered to take her in to the vet this morning because we both knew that she probably wouldn't be coming back and I don't think I would have handled it very well. Looking back through the photos of her this afternoon has been very therapeutic, and I'm glad I have so many. I'm not even sharing half of what I have, but I did realize I haven't taken many of her recently. Probably because she's been so tired and withdrawn the last few months. As it is this is the last photo I have of her and it was taken in January.
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