I remember the day I  brought you home, you were so small and cuddly...I was six years old and I had always wanted a cat. You were my first pet. We grew up together, you and I. You were so faithful, waiting for me every day and patiently watching as I did my homework. We would play together for hours, you would follow me around even in the snow. Sometimes we would sit in the tree house together, looking out over our backyard kingdom. Other childhood friends came and went, but you were always there.

When we moved to a new home, I knew I could depend on you. I was shy and didn't make friends easily, but you were always there to listen. Sometimes it felt like you were my only friend in the world. You were there for all the biggest events of my life, all the times we moved to a different house, the day I brought home my first car (you chewed on the antenna!)  my first boyfriend, my first breakup, my last day of school...you never once let me down. I hated leaving you when it was time to go to college, it was the first time you wouldn't be going with me. I missed you so much, and I know you missed me too. You looked for me everywhere, and when you couldn't find me, you waited patiently for me to come back at the end of the driveway. I did come back to visit you, I promised you that one day we'd live together again. You made friends with my dad while I was gone and you both missed me together, but time was already running out for you. The day you went away was a first for me that I never wanted to experience. Now I am getting ready to have my first house, but without you it will never be a real home. I miss you so much, every day. I miss your tattered ears and the soft fur under your chin. I wish I could hug you just one last time. Today it's me waiting patiently for you to come home, hoping that I will look up and you'll be there, as always, ready to listen. I love you, you will always be my Patches.



They say memories are golden

well maybe that is true.

I never wanted memories,

I only wanted you.



A million times I needed you,

a million times I cried.

If love alone could have saved you

you never would have died.



In life I loved you dearly,

In death I love you still.

In my heart you hold a place

no one could ever fill.



If tears could build a stairway

and heartache make a lane,

I'd walk the path to heaven

and bring you back again.



Our family chain is broken,

and nothing seems the same.

But as God calls us one by one,

the chain will link again.



Author unknown