Dear Kelly,
I knew that the day that you came home with me, you would be something special. I took you home when I was only five-years-old. I remember picking you out and naming you after Barbie's youngest sister. You were only a kitten then, and I had no idea how much you would mean to me at that point in my life.
You were like the sister I never had. You were the one I would tell my secrets to, the only one I would snuggle with while watching movies and the only one who I felt truly understood me. I would even dress you up in my old clothes (I have a great photo of you in my old dance tutu). Through all my big transitions of life, you were always there to silently support me.
One of my favorite things about you is how soft you were. You ended up being a pretty fat cat (for reasons I still do not know) and it added to your fluffiness. The vet even told us that you were 'morbidly obese.' It got to be such a problem that we had to feed you diet food and even that didn't work! Whether you were fat or not, you fit into our family so well and we love you so much.
When I went off to college, I knew you would be one of the things I would miss most about home. I would ask my mom for updates of you weekly, although you did not do much except lie around. Coming home was great, and the first thing I would do was pick you up and hold you for as long as I could. You were always mad that I was gone for so long, but you always would come back to me not too long after.
My friends also loved you. I would talk to them about how cuddly you were and your recent developments back home. Whenever someone came and visited my home, you would be one of the first things they would meet because I loved having you meet my friends (although you usually didn't). You did get along with some of them, while others had a rougher time getting to know you. Still they could see our special bond that brought us together.
They say that what you take pictures of is what you're afraid of losing the most. Well, if you were to look at my camera roll or Instagram, you would see hundreds of photos of you. After 15 years, I couldn't imagine life without you. I wanted you to be in my future wedding ceremony. Unfortunately, you cannot live forever.
When you stopped eating, we were so worried. Eating is one of your favorite things to do. We took you to the vet, where we were devastated to find that you had a tumor. We knew that we didn't want you to suffer any more than you had to. We put you down the next day and buried you in our backyard, where we left your food bowl as a gravestone.
Kelly, we are so blessed to have had you for such a long time. You have been through three house moves, outlived family pets and have been with us through many life experiences. I'm so glad to have had you for part of my life, and I hope that your whole life with us was the best you could ever have.
Love,
Charlotte
