It's taken me a long time to write this post. I have started it, saved it, and tried adding to it a number of times and each time have found it hard to come back and think about it again.

Cheeta was an amazing cat. In fact, she was more than a cat - she was my best friend.

It may sound crazy, but it's true. I have had her since she was a tiny kitten. When I was 5, my cat ran away because she was afraid of the dog we had at the time. I was sad about it and my grandpa - who was living in the Santa Cruz mountains at the time - was driving up the road to his house when he noticed a mom and a litter of kittens running across the road ahead. He stopped to let them pass, but then realized that all but one had disappeared. It was Cheeta, sitting on the side of the road staring at him as if to say "well, what are you waiting for? Take me home to Jess." He got out of the car and scooped her up, then took her home with him.

A few days later he brought her to my house. I was SO excited, I mean, what 5 year old wouldn't be excited for a new kitten? He asked me what I wanted to name her, but being the logic-driven Capricorn I am, I asked him what he had been calling her (because I didn't want to confuse her - silly, I know). He told me he had been calling her "Cheeta" because she had cheated death when she opted to be adopted instead of run in to the woods with her family. So Cheeta it was!

She was the best cat I've ever met. She was sweet and cuddly, never mean and always wanted attention and affection. If I was sad, she seemed to sense it and would come nuzzle me. She loved affection so much that if you so much as stood next to her, she would begin purring. She never bit or scratched anyone (unless it was one of the dogs taking a play session too far!) and loved napping out in the sun. She really was just the best cat, pet and companion I've ever had and I miss her so much.

I love you, Cheeta, and I hope you are resting peacefully in kitty heaven. I miss you.

August 1999 - November 3, 2017