Lucy

This is Lucille Anne Joppie (Lucy)

 I have had Lucy since she was a little itty bitty kitty. I got her when I was 22- she was the third cat ever that I owned. I always wanted a cat but my mother hates cats- i think she may hate cats even more than she hates dirt and my mother really hates dirt. One of the first things I did as soon as I was free and clear of my mother and able to was to get a cat- my life long dream. My first cat was Olivia- I bought her at a pet store on Montgomery Drive for about $50-$75 dollars- she was not fixed yet. Olivia was not very happy about life at my house- she constantly peed under my roommates desk on the downstairs floor (thats to let you know that there were two floors in this apartment). Anywho i caught the flu one day and was terribly terribly sick but despite this i kept Olivia's appointment with the vet to get fixed- it was the Affordable vet and it was one of those clinic things where the procedure is cheaper because they are doing a shit load of animals at the same time- why this is cheaper i don't know. I got up early that morning with my runny nose and high fever and drove Olivia to the vet all the way across town- she shit in the carrier (i did not know this was abnormal behavior at the time) I left her at the vet and drove all the way home and laid down on the couch with my congested sinuses and dozed off- a few hours later a woke up to the phone ringing- it was the vet- something had gone terribly wrong during the procedure- she must have had some kind of heart problem he did not know about- the vet had a very thick german accent so it was hard to for me to grasp what was happening right away but the upshot was that they killed my cat- i drove back across town to confirm my cat was dead and pick up the cat carrier which they had washed out. They cremated her for free- i still have her ashes somewhere- actually scratch that i think i gave it charity- it was in a nice wood box.

Lucy came fixed- no i take that back- no she did not. But she was my third cat not my second. His name was Rudy- I adopted him from the pound for $100- i no longer had a roommate. Since Rudy had all his shots and was already fixed he was much easier to keep alive- i had to sign a contract with the pound not to let Rudy outside cause he had a pink nose and pink tips on his ears and he would sunburn easily. I kept Rudy alive for a whole six months before I convinced myself that Rudy needed a companion- he must be lonely. I was working at Summerfield Convalesent and trying to go to school and i went to meetings every night and well Rudy was alone too much- he really really needed a cat.

Enter Lucy. Lucy was from litter of kittens that my friend Rachel's neighbor's cat had spawned- it was probaly her fifth litter- in fact she was probably Olivia's moma too. Concidence? I had a hosuewarming party for the apartment i was living in on Marlow- it was a little ghetto and the hosuewarming party was 5-6 months after i actually moved in but i got two tea pots that whistled out of it and afterwards Rachel brought over Lucy the kitten- OH MY GOODNESS- Lucy was a really cute kitten. I wish i could tell you that me and lucy instantly bonded but that would be a complete lie- Lucy peed on my clothes A LOT and was extremely skittish and not cuddly- I was still pretty inexperienced with animals (or relatiosnhips at all) so I am sad to tell you i was probably inappropriately rough with Lucy sometimes when she was a kitten- i lost my patience and i don't think that Rudy offered much comfort for poor Lucy either- he was full grown when i got her and he was a big boy and he would bat her around like she was a rag doll. I had a couch with the side ripped out (i lived off of salvation army furniture and such) and my cats used to like to crawl in the side to hide in the couch- i would have to lift the couch up on one side and move it vigorously up and down to get them out- why i ever HAD to get my cats out of the couch i can't remember but for some reason i did a lot.

I moved after three years. Lucy stopped peeing on my clothes and other than to feed her i just did not notice her that much- she was not super cuddly- i gave all my love and attention to Rudy. I moved in with a bunch of guys in the middle of Roseland on West Ave- the ghetto of Santa Rosa. I lived in a bedroom in a house full of boys for approximately 1 year. Rudy ran away. Lucy became the only cat I had. I discovered after Rudy ran away that Lucy had a personality- that she was actually very cuddly and affectionate and that she was quite nice to be around- I became fond of Lucy.

I moved again. I got rid of the roommates. It turns out i did not like them. I moved into a little granny unit in someone's back yard. I took lucy with me. I lived on Derby Lane for 5 years. I had several other cats. There was Henry (another unhappy match)- he died mysteriously in the middle of the night when he was six months old- Lisa and Josh came over and took his body. I never asked what they did with it.

Owen Franklin Hannity

I got Owen shortly after I broke up with Marty.

Marty talked a lot and so did Owen- Owen was kind of like a replacement kitty for Marty.

Marty and I got back together and Owen loves loves loves Marty. About a year ago I finally let go of my fantasy of being Owen's owner and officialy gave custody of Owen over to Marty.

For a while I became a weird cat lady and owned three cats.

Annabella Sophia Hannity

This was the third cat. I got her from a friend who adopted her from the pound even though her live in boyfriend was allergic to cats. She had to find a home for poor Annabella. I took her in.

Lucy did not much care for other cats.

but she got use to them after a while.

Throughout the years I have become fonder and fonder of Lucy. She is my heart- I had such a hard time letting things matter in my life-  jobs, my money, my opportunities, people, places. I had such a bad habit of being dismissive of all these things- of mistreating them- passing them by on my way to something better or different or less challenging. I hardly even realized it was happening but I let Lucy matter to me- the longer she stuck around the more i liked her and then i ended up loving her and then she ended up mattering to me.

So anywho my long blog about lucy is because lucy has been diagnosed with cancer- fast growing cancer that only leaves her a few months to live.

I love my little Lucy so much- i am heart broken that i must lose her. I am heartbroken that something so precious to me is leaving, now when everything is so happy and wonderful- now when I have found love and happiness my little Lucy is going away. I really have an inappropriate amount of affection for this cat. I don't know how many nights i cried myself to sleep for whatever number of reasons and lucy would come and sleep next to me. Now when I hardly find anything to cry about at all Lucy is leaving. What will I do with out Lucy? I miss her already. Its late and I am in sitting in my house in Forestville with my wonderful fiance -Lucy is curled up on the floor and Eric is watching stupid t.v.- good night to any who actually read my silly blog and if such a thing as a reader of this blog is out there if you ever lost something that mattered please send a comfoting wish my way. I think losing lucy is like loosing a little bit of my heart- i hope though i will always be lucky enough to let things matter. good night.