Cinder.

July 16, 2020

Cinder.

My heart is heavy. I am so incredibly sad. Our darling Cinder’s cancer progressed to his kidneys. Today, we spent his last moments peacefully together. Chris and I are both devastated to lose him.

One of my favorite things was to watch Chris and Cinder's love for each other. Chris was instantly happy when he saw Cinder--and this could happen one hundred times a day. When Cinder would waltz into the room, Chris would lovingly call him one of ten-thousand nicknames, and Cinder would reply with many meows, as if in conversation. (Cinder always had a lot to say.) Chris would smile and "awww." It never got old for him. Not once. With how doting Chris could be, you might have thought we had adopted Cinder that week.

While Cinder always preferred Chris to me (who wouldn't with that kind of love!), Cinder and I had our moments. And, when they happened, Chris would light up with resplendent joy. Chris’ most favorite times were when we would all three of us would be together in one place--the bed, the couch, etc. He would beam “All three together!” You could feel the joy pulsing from his smile.

Cinder was not a quiet or unnoticed cat, and our days will not be the same without him. We were a funny little family, and it breaks my heart into a million pieces that he is gone. He will be truly and deeply missed.

There are a million stories about Cinder and his very distinct personality.

Here are a few things I loved about him:

- He would hear Chris approaching, and would run to the door to greet him. Their daily reunion was precious. And it only happened for Chris.

- He LOVED pencils-- pens were ok, but only if you were using it at that moment. He would try to hunt and chase it.

- He had dinner with us every night... well, he would interrupt dinner every night. Chris would sit down to the table. We would enjoy a few bites. Cinder came and would either jump on the table OR bite Chris so that he would pay attention to him and not to me.

- He also loved plastic Easter eggs. We stocked a few in the table drawers so that we could have a few more minutes of dinner together peacefully. That worked for a while...

- Cinder preferred, above all else, to drink from my water glass. It didn't really matter which glass I was using, just as long as it was mine. While this annoyed me endlessly, there is a piece of my heart that felt special.

- Cinder truly wished he were an outside kitty. He tried to escape so many times that I finally bought a cat leash set (it's a thing). When we let him go out, he was so obsessed that it became problematic. He would meow and beg to go outside all. the. time. When we moved, we forbade outdoor time so that we could have some peace. (When he got sick, we allowed him to go out again.)

- Cinder was actually pretty good with kids. He was a good training kitty. He gave adequate warnings, and would separate himself if it was too much.