Bridget Melanie : Let me tell you about a little orange tabby

People always have the debate, are you a "dog person" or a "cat person," I think it's safe to say that I'm a "both person." I have always loved dogs and cats and seem to have an individual bond with each creature I come across. I have always loved animals; since I can remember, my parents have had pets in our house while we were growing up and I can't remember one time that we didn't have at least one pet. Well when I was 12, a very special orange tabby came into my life.

My mom is a medical transcriptionist and has a little office that she works out of by herself. Well when I was 12, this orange tabby was wandering around her office and my mom decided to start leaving food and water out for this cat. Eventually she decided she'd like to stay in my mom's office where she would have shelter and guaranteed love. My mom would go down on a daily basis to give her food, water and love. When my mom introduced my sister, dad and I to her, we instantly fell in love, but since we had a dog at home decided it would be better to leave her at my mom's office. I decided to name her Ginger (real original, but I was 12 after all.) She was a feisty little thing and was getting in fights on a consistent basis; one day my mom showed up to her office and found Ginger laying in the grass pretty battered by another cat. After our beloved Mischief passed away, we thought it would be time to bring Ginger home to keep an eye on her and ensure she didn't get in anymore fights.

She and I became inseparable. She would sleep with me and hang out in my room most of the time. I then became used to having red/orange cat hair on everything, luckily I wasn't allergic, yet. She loved laying in the sun and out in the grass.

She had quite a few life scares, but we decided unlike other cats who had 9 lives, she had about 30. About a month ago, she somehow ran away from our house, we thought it was possible she had gotten lost and didn't know how to get back to the house. That was a pretty traumatic time for me, knowing that she was pretty old, I didn't want her to be anywhere but by my side until the end. Thank God a nice man found her, fed her and took care of her for that weekend then took her to his vet. She was microchipped and we were reunited. Such an amazing feeling!

I knew how much she meant to me, but like the saying goes, you don't know what you've got until it's gone.

Some of my favorite memories :)

Everyday, I would walk into my room and say "Hi monkey (or insert the other 100 names I called her)"
She would always sleep next to me or lay on me when I was on my bed.
In her later years she began yowling/meowing loudly, I realized she was looking for me, because right when I would call her name she would stop meowing and come find me.
My dad had a language for ginger only. Man I wish I would have recorded him talking to her, it was adorable though and so normal. I'm sure if other people heard it they'd think it was insane, but she loved it.
One night when Noah was leaving my house she was sitting in the dark just watching us.. So on the spot I made up the song "super creep, super creep she's super creeeepy" and from that moment on we called her super creep along with many other names.
Might as well get to her many names: Ginger, Squingy, Gingina, Ginginee, Poodinator, Poodie, Poodinie, Monkey, Squoogies, creeper, kitty and I'm sure there are many others.
She was so unbelievably loving, she didn't mind that I got up in her face and cuddled her, and despite the fact that I became allergic to her about 2 years ago didn't phase me.
She hated all other animals, our dog Trevor learned that she was the boss and to back off when she was on the prowl. Pansy
She was the worst at the vet. Such a jerk, she barely had any teeth near the end and she still freaked people out at the vet.
She's the only cat I've come across that actually tolerated being held like a baby.
She would play with the water bowl, dragged it across the room and made a huge mess. Silly goose
Sometimes I would pet her with my foot and when Id put my toe near her mouth she would bite it. I thought it was cute, she was probably attacking me, oops.
When I was skyping Noah, she would come up behind me and creep so Noah would yell "poodie (another name we called her)"
If I put a piece of paper on the ground or a plastic bag, she would sit on it or lay on it, some weird things cats do I guess.
She was my consistent in life, of course I have Noah and my family, but regardless of any bad circumstances or bad situations, she loved me and was always there, for 12 years.
Ever since Noah moved to New York, I dreaded her passing when I wasn't home, I knew it was coming because lets face it, she was at least 20 when she passed away. It was so much harder than I thought it would be.
The past week I've been seeing her out of the corner of my eye, or hearing her late at night. Every time I come home, I forget and walk in my room expecting to see her.
We had to put her on morphine when her arthritis got bad and she was crazy on it. She fell in love with a rock that's in our back yard and would lay on it for hours in the summer, she looked like a mermaid. When it would rain, she would run outside, not caring about getting wet and drink from her rock.
She definitely wrote her own rules on life and I know she wouldn't have had it any other way.

Losing a pet is so hard. Nothing can prepare you for the loss that you feel and unfortunately the only thing that can heal it is time. No animal will ever replace my Gingy, but I know she's in a better place. Near the end I could tell she wasn't herself. She seemed like she was in pain and that wasn't fair. I loved the 12 years I had with her and I hope everyone gets to experience the love that an animal can bring to your life.

On Monday, November 10th, 2014 Ginger went to heaven.

On wednesday, I decided to get a tattoo so that I would always have her with me until the day I die.