Sheba 1995 - 2013

We left Calgary after 7:00 Sunday night and drove straight through to Salt Lake City arriving at about 9:00 on Monday morning. We dropped Wendy off and drove on to Provo to drop off Sam, Sarah and Alycia. I hung out with Lisa for a few hours and then left her behind and drove on to San Diego. As is always the case I was met at the door by Sheba. I said hello to her, scratched her ears and then proceeded to empty our stuff out of the van. It was a beautiful cool night and Sheba walked out to the end of the side walk, laid down and watched my unload the van. When I was done I picked her up and carried her back into the house. I rubbed her back for a bit, and then headed off to bed. 

The next morning when I came downstairs there was no one there begging me to feed her. I knew right then that she was gone. I checked under the piano (her current favorite place to sleep) and sure enough, there she was looking as peaceful as ever. She may have looked peaceful but I knew instantly that she was gone. It was a sad morning. I called Lisa to tell her the news and I was quite surprised by how hard it was for me. I wasn't expecting that. 

There wasn't anything I could do right then and I couldn't think of a better place to move her to so I left her right there under the piano and went to work. That evening I came home and made her a little casket. I then went out and dug a hole right next to Bridget being very careful not to break open Bridget's casket (that isn't a sight I'm too anxious to see) and laid her next to Bridget. Sheba's little spirit probably wasn't too thrilled about that, she did not like Bridget but in her old age she was a lot more tolerant of her. Hopefully she's in a more glorified state right now and doesn't mind having her remains lay next to Bridget.

I was going to fill in the grave but at the last minute I decided that Sheba could wait until Lisa gets home. We all signed Bridgets casket, I will give all the kids a chance to let me know if they want me to write a short message on Sheba's casket for them. Sarah has already asked for a heart.

The rest of the week has been rather tough. I had no idea how much a part of my life Sheba has been. Every morning when I come down the stairs I'm expecting Sheba to meow at me asking me to feed her. When I come home at nights Sheba was ALWAYS there greeting me at the door and I feel rather empty now that she isn't. She has been more like a dog than a cat. She would even come when you call her (at least she would before she went deaf). She would go for a walk with you staying right by your side. Since she has gotten old she won't go outside any more because the neighbors cat would beat her up but if I was working in the yard she would always come out and be right there by me. 

Sheba was the toughest cat I've ever seen. In her day I've seen her take on a Doberman and chase it away. The boys taught her to play "hide and seek". They would chase the cat but at one point the cat would turn and chase them. She would hide under the couch or under a bed and randomly claw your foot as you walked by. I remember one time Sheba was laying on the back of the couch and completely out of the blue she launched herself at Brandon and clung to him with all fours. It was what they had taught her to do and they loved it. I don't think all of their friends enjoyed it quite so much but we all used to have so much fun. 

I sat down to eat my dinner the other night and the first thing I did was check out where Sheba was because she would always try and steal my dinner. It then dawned on me that no one would be trying to steal my dinner anymore. It is so sad. 

Lisa has been in Utah this week and when people would ask me where Lisa was I always used to joke saying it is "just me and the cat". At the temple this week I said that to someone and then was suddenly quite sad to think, "nope, it's just me now". I miss Sheba.

Lisa and Alex selected Sheba from a box of kittens some one was giving away in front of Walmart. That was back in 1995 shortly after we moved into this house. She would soon be coming up onto her 19th birthday. According to google, if Sheba were a human she would be 93 years old. I guess she's lived a long and happy life. Lisa and some of the kids have suggested that Sheba was waiting for someone in the family to come home before she left us. I like to think that is true.

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A cat will almost never meow at another cat. Cats use this sound for humans.

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