Ode to a Best Friend

I first met you when we were both 9. I was 9 years old and you were 9 months.

I heard you crying, abandoned, hungry and lost.

I took you in, cared for you, fed you, hid you from my parents.

When I'd get home from school, I would go to you in the basement where I kept you hidden from mom and dad; I snuck you my favorite foods from dinner time, keeping some stowed away in my napkin - fish sticks, chicken nuggets, some milk.

You gobbled it all up and kept licking my fingers when I ran out of food to feed you. You were just a baby, and still you had a powerful voice to mewl and meow when you were still hungry.

You got me in trouble when Mom heard the meow.

But you charmed us all and we kept you.

You were the newest member of our family, which was great because I was tired of being the youngest.

You lived a long life of 17 years, during which time you listened to me whisper secrets to you at night-time. You were the first I told about my first boyfriend in the 6th grade and how he won me a stuffed animal at the Roller Rink.

You were better than any imaginary friend I could have thought up.

I taught you to play fetch and to nap...or maybe you taught me how to nap.

You were spry and loving, even when you were sick.

I will miss you.

In memory of Ashley; September 1991 - November 2008