Remembering Crystal

You might remember this graphic..  Today our thoughts are on Crystal who left us one year ago. Jan still gets teary when she thinks of him or looks at a picture. He was a very special kitty.

When Jan moved to Georgia, she decided when Grayce and Jenny died, she would not have any more cats. It was too hard to say good-bye.

A year later she heard what sounded like a kitten. She went outside and there was little Crystal crying his heart out. She learned later someone had dumped 2 orange tabbies and they had been wandering around crying. She doesn't know what happened to the other one, but when Crystal saw her, he ran for the porch, leaped high, hit the concrete side and fell to the ground. Well, that was the end of Jan's resolve. She brought him inside.

The older cats hissed and growled at him but he paid no attention. He was a happy guy and ignored them. Grayce liked to burrow under blankets so she had a big laundry basket with bedding. When she went to bed, so did Crystal. He would climb in, stand on the mound under the blanket and knead until she stopped growling. Then he'd lie down and sleep. Eventually they became best friends and they would share a chair in the kitchen for hours at a time.

He grieved for Grayce when she died. Jan took their chair out of the kitchen for some time because he kept looking for her there.

He was Jan's dog before Merci. For some reason, she could never hear when someone knocked at the door. So Crystal would announce them. Jan would hear him talking and she'd go answer the door. And he greeted anyone who came in.

Not too long before he died, a neighbor came over to blow out the gas space heaters and relight the pilots. Crystal came slowly into the room, then turned and went back into the kitchen. It was distressing to see him retire from his self-appointed greeter duties. He was only 11 years old.

He spent his last few days sleeping in a large laundry basket with bedding to keep him warm. The morning of his departure was wet and dreary. Jan badly injured an already infected toe and Buddy had a seizure. It was an altogether depressing day!

She still misses Crystal curling up on her pillow and purring her to sleep. For some reason, the rest of us kitties stopped sleeping on the bed when Crystal died. And then one day when Jan was very discouraged, Cameron - who had never slept on the bed - dared to take over Crystal's cuddling duties but none of us have tried to take over his sleeping spot.

None of us can take his place. He was unique; we all are.

Crystal, we will always love and remember you. You got your paws in the door and paved the way for the rest of us Georgia Funny Farmers.


Brian of Brian's Home blog made a special request for today. We are just going to borrow it from him and the CB --

Please join us for a special topic if you can. After my post last week about helping shelters out during the cold weather, my friend Kika thought it would be a good idea for all of us to do a post about the importance of helping shelters. Not only has the winter been harsh in some areas of the United States, but the flooding in Australia and the landslides in Brazil, along with other regional issues, makes this a very timely topic. So if you would, on Monday, January 24th, please remind your readers of the importance of helping out your local shelters. I know lots of you do this, but a gentle reminder to those that read your blog sure might help. The little things all add up!

TK and Squashie are both shelter kitties and to help spread shelter awareness, they are having a commentathon today to help the Small Miracles Cat Rescue. All you have to do to help their shelter is to leave a comment. You can help spend their mom's green papers on their Mancat Monday post today. Each comment is worth a $1.00 donation.

And another reminder that our neighbors Friends of Pike County Animals needs your daily vote to get an adoption and education center in their rural Georgia county. You can vote here. Voting will end January 31.