A Lost Companion

Our family has... well had two cats. We still have Stella, who is our nearly 5 year old, typically grumpy cat. However, we lost our other cat, Juno a couple days ago. We purchased her from the Humane Society when she was a couple months old. I was a new stay at home mom, and needed a companion while Brent worked. So, Juno became a part of our family in August.

Juno was the ideal cat from the start. Her meow was very quiet, unlike Stella's loud complaints, and Juno would purr all the time. Even the vet would comment on her sweetness and purring. When listening to her heart, the vet would have to run water nearby so that Juno would stop purring and the heartbeats could be heard.

Juno loved being as close to my face as possible. I eventually trained her to be more chest height then face height when we snuggled, but she still preferred to lay next to my face.

About 3 months old.

She wasn't one of those cats that lay at the foot of the bed, out of the way. Instead she'd lay on my side of the bed, next to my torso. Yeah, she'd often get pushed off when I rolled or got up in the middle of the night, but she'd come back and lay next to me. I especially enjoyed it in the morning, since Brent leaves to work a couple hours before I wake.

Juno had many nicknames. "June, Junie, and June Bug" to name a few, and she would respond to all those names. She'd come right away and happily lay on my lap. Our other cat, Stella, will occasionally lay on our laps, but one movement and she's gone. Juno, on the other hand, would stay and stay until you physically moved her off.

Liam and Juno were great playmates. Yes, sometimes Juno would scratch Liam, but only because she's a cat and wasn't quite sure how to always play gently with him. However, there were many times the two would have great fun. They both loved playing with Liam's small toy balls. Liam would roll the balls under the gap of the baby gate, and Juno would playfully bat them back. Liam loved the game. He'd clap as Juno batted the ball around, and then reach for the ball when it came close. Eventually, Liam would have a hold of the ball again, and roll it to Juno. Thus allowing the cycle to continue.

Another one of their favorite games were bubbles, and thankfully I got a video of this one.

Tragically, Juno is gone. I found her in the middle of the street on Tuesday afternoon. Honestly, I thought she was just sunning herself, and the horror didn't hit me until I was right next to her. I won't go into the gory details, but I was heartbroken, and cried the whole time I moved her off the road. Sadly, Brent was at work at the time, but he helped bury her when he got home.

I've never had such a strong reaction to a pet passing before. I've always been sad, and will often shed a few tears, but Juno's death led to many tears. We only had her about 5 months, but she became a large part of my life. I was impacted in a big wa, by such a tiny, sweet kitty.

I miss you Juno, and thank you for bringing so much happiness everyday. >^..^<

-Anna

(P.S. I couldn't help but cry when I completed this post.)