Monday, January 24, 2011

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.

33 comments:

  1. Awww thank you for sharing a little bit about beautiful and much missed Crystal! He truly was a unique and wonderful kitty. Me and Charlie know he is watching over you all!! Take care
    x

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  2. Special hugs, kitty kisses and purrs to Jan today. It's the 4th anniversary of Chumley's death today, so the mom understands.

    Blessings and Peace.

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  3. What a beautiful post in memory of Crystal. We send our purrs and hugs to y'all.

    xxxxxxxxxxx

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  4. what a beautiful memory of sweet Crystal! he was a wonderful boy!

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  5. Crystal will be watching over all of you from above and will always remain in your hearts.

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  6. Crystal was obvioulsy very special and unique. Purrs and head butts.

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  7. A great 1 year memorial for Crystal.

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  8. We wish we had known Crystal - he sounds as though he was such a character and looked out for you from his place on your pillow at night. We are sure he is still watching over you from Rainbow Bridge.
    Luv Hannah and Lucy xx xx

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  9. Purrs and Hugs to all of you Funny Farmers.

    Purrs,
    Genghis

    Hugs,
    Penny

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  10. We are new to the blog world so we never "met" Crystal until now! He sounds like an angel cat. We are so sorry that your family had to lose him. :*(

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  11. That is a beautiful tribute to Crystal. We know you miss him very much but we are also sure he is watching over you.

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  12. My stomach is in a knot and there's a lump in my throat, but I'm REALLY glad to have read Crystal's story. Every single one of them takes a piece of our heart when they leave, but oh, how they grew our hearts bigger while they were here.

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  13. Thank you for such a beautiful and heartfelt tribute to Crystal. We are sending comforting purrs and prayers to you...

    Thank you also for your great message about helping shelters. Since our entire blog is all about the cats at a shelter (PAWS), we did not do a "special" post today. But on behalf of shelters everywhere, we thank you for helping get out this important message. We love you guys!

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  14. That was a beautiful tribute to Crystal. Thanks for purrticipating in ShelterAware24, I appreciate all of you.

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  15. Thanks fur the shout-out Jan!!! You can totally commint for every one of your furends! Mommy wants to gives a BIG donashun.
    We loves you guys! TK

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  16. Soft woos from all of us. Crystal was a very special kitty and this is a very special tribute to him.

    Woos ~ Phantom, Thunder, and Ciara

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  17. Wow, Crystal was a very special guy, thanks for sharing that heart-warming story with us. Good thoughts to you today Jan. And Be Well Sweet Crystal...

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  18. A heartwarming and wonderfuly told tribute to Crystal. He was a special kitty and obviously well loved and loving in return. Beautiful. Hugs GJ xx

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  19. We are thinking of you today. What a lovely tribute to Crystal and thank you for sharing your memories of him with us.

    Extra special Big Nose Pokes
    The Thugletsx

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  20. Each of us that leave take a piece of our human's heart with us -

    But the ones that khome after us bring some of their own upon arrivial -

    Hugz&Khysses,
    Khyra

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  21. Crystal sounds like a special boy! Now his memory lives with us too :-)

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  22. What a wonderful way to remember Crystal. (((Hugs))) purrs and prayers


    The Florida Furkids and Angel Sniffie

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  23. What a beautiful posting remembering Crystal...who reminds me so much of our beloved Ping.

    {hugs}

    purrin
    xoxox
    ♥♥♥
    Abby

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  24. That is a lovely tribute to Crystal.
    (((hugs)))

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  25. Sad. Crystal had a happy life with you though so we should be happy.

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  26. This post touched me very much. Losing a pet is so difficult. Crystal was a handsome boy, and he sounds like a character. *Purrs*

    Lily and Link

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  27. Pawesome post for Crystal!
    I can't believe it has been a year!
    Take care
    Kisses and hugs
    Lorenza

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  28. OH jan, you post just is so , well, there are no words. there really are not. our cats are so special. and you are correct when you say each is special.

    it is a heartbreaking post BUT it had a wonderful journey within it. A safe home, love, a mom, friends, valiadation that was needed that every life form is valuable and worth the same equally.

    cats are so very special. they become a big piece of our hearts. our souls.

    thank you for sharing what i am sure was a difficult post to write but hopefully brought you some happy memories as well.

    and thank you for stopping by our blog and commenting on the CB Tshirts : )

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  29. We are sorry that we haven't visited in so long. We are sending you (((((hugSSSSS))))) and remembering beautiful Crystal!

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  30. So sorry about Crystal. What a special kitty. The kitties that we have lost are always close to us in our hearts. Hugs!

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  31. We send you comforting purrs as you remember sweet Crystal.

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