Jasper

2011 - 2021

My 10-year-old cat, Jasper, became alarmingly sick in August 2021. He had feline infectious peritonitis. As a teacher with the school year starting again, I was extraordinarily busy while he was failing. I took him to the veterinarian twice. There Jasper appeared to be working through his illness with intervention and medication. Home was a different matter. He was slowly slipping away from us. The early morning hours of Friday, August 21, 2021, he passed in my arms at home. I had failed him. It wasn't how I wanted him to leave this life. But it was the way he wanted to say goodbye, surrounded by his family in his favorite place, one paw resting on my heart. Jasper was treasured by all who knew him. He was a happy ginger, who I nicknamed "Pumpkin". He greeted me every time I came home, and if I didn't get inside fast enough so he could love on me, he would yowl till i had him in my arms. Oh, and he was a character. I remember once at midnight I woke up startled by a loud crash, and racing downstairs, I saw that he had knocked down a very heavy shelf with handmade pottery displayed. He sat in the middle of the mess, unharmed, thank goodness, and he looked all around him at the many shards, then back at me as if to say, "How did that happen?" After he passed, the house felt less happy. Almost a year later, my vet friend, introduced me to another ginger with the same mischievous grin. We named him Simon. Sometimes interacting or watching Simon, I think jasper must have sent him to us, because the similarities are uncanny. The house is once again full of laughter because of him. That is what i remember most about Jasper, that silly grin, and the smiles he brought to those who knew him. He loved with an open heart. I miss you still from this life, Jasper, and I always will, little buddy.