The last thing I said to my kitten before leaving for college was “I love you munchkin, I’ll see you at Thanksgiving,” yet here we are at the end of November, and he’s gone.

Only one short year ago, I was blessed with the opportunity to pick out a new kitten for my family with the help of my parents. We’ve owned four cats for the majority of my childhood and after my oldest cat, Elsa, passed away, we decided to stick with three for a while. Picking out a new kitten was a big deal for me because all of my cats are grown and live their own independent lives, regardless of how often I try stealing hugs and cuddles from them. I was determined to make this new kitten love me, but I knew that attacking him with affection wasn’t the way to go about it. I learned that lesson with my youngest cat, Raja, who now stress eats on the regular because I loved him too fiercely as a kid.

My plan was to let our new fuzzball come to me first and get comfortable with his new family, little did I know that we were adopting the bravest, most outgoing cat on the planet. Oliver warmed up to us like he’d known us for years. This cat was honestly, truly, the most loveable creature I’ve ever seen. When spring came, we decided that he’d be an indoor cat… an idea which Ollie quickly shot down. He’d explore for hours, climb trees and take car rides around the neighborhood with me. There was never a dull moment when he was around.

Things changed this past summer when Ollie had a stroke. I was away at a summer launch program for college when it happened, and when I came home, he was a completely different animal. Oliver changed, and although we didn’t know what happened, we knew that something was very wrong.

For the rest of the summer, we tried to find out ways to get him back to normal, but his condition stayed the same. I’d bring him outside and lay in the sun with him, but he didn’t look at the flowers and his ears didn’t twitch when bugs flew past. I’d lay in bed with him in the mornings, but he didn’t purr and there was no affection behind his eyes. We had to leave him with the vet during my move-in weekend for college because he couldn’t be alone for more than a few hours and I was the one who had to drop him off. I gave him one final kiss and said, "I love you munchkin, I’ll see you at Thanksgiving."

I got the call from my parents a week into school.

At first, I was devastated and upset that my parents hadn’t asked for my input before making the decision. I realize now that they made the best choice for Ollie, despite how much I miss him. Coming home for Thanksgiving break with three cats instead of four was tough. Of course, I’d been home for Columbus Day weekend too, but it hadn’t really hit me then. Some people may be thinking, “It’s a cat, get over it,” but it goes deeper than that. In my family, getting a cat is getting a new family member. They aren’t just pets who we feed and clean up after, they’re our companions and they’re big parts of our lives.

Losing Ollie within the first year we had him was extremely hard for my family. We had only one Christmas, one New Years, one summer and not even one whole year to share with him. That little kitten brought so much light and love into our home and he will be remembered for decades to come.

My family, being the cat lovers we are, have been so used to living with four furballs that it’s already time to start looking for the next new kitten. A new addition in the house doesn’t mean that we’ll miss or love Ollie any less, it means that we have to fill the hole his loss left in our family.

Never underestimate the effect a cat has because the day they’re gone is a day with less adventure, warmth and love. So to all the cat people, be thankful for your furry companion, give them a treat from me and go share this article.