I was born at the Holiday Inn in the clock room next to Housekeeping on November 29, 1982 or 1983 (my mommie can't remember which.) My kitty mother used to go up and down the busy Highway 82 between the Holiday Inn and the Ramada Inn begging guests for food. My human mommie found out that my kitty mother got run over, so she adopted me and found homes for my sister and brother. The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was my human mommie. Naturally, I figured I was human, too!

Mommie fed me with a baby bottle until I was old enough to have solid food. She even convinced a friend to temporarily adopt me so I could have my belly licked properly to make me use the bathroom. My sister did not survive, but my brother did. He earned the name "Stinky Kitty" because he always smelled bad. What fun we had ripping and running through the Holiday Inn and hiding in Daddy's shoes! Another of my favorite games was bounding across the room and leaping onto my daddy's pants hanging in the closet. What a fascinating sound they made as I slid all the way down them with my claws! Unfortunately, Daddy did not appreciate this particular game very much. Maybe that's why he had the vet take my sharp claws from me. I still had my back claws, and enjoyed playing "rabbit punch" very much indeed.

Not too very long after my surgery (and I also seem to remember having two other things here on my back end before that trip to the vet), my daddy and mommie moved to another Holiday Inn. We had such a nice apartment to live in there. Daddy's apartment had stairs and boy, were they fun to run up and down! Mommie's apartment didn't allow pets, but she used to smuggle me over in a grocery bag when no one was looking. One night I spent the night with her and snuggled so good, she wouldn't let me leave. From then on, I was Mommie's Holiday Inn Wompuss Johnson Durand AKA King of the World.

By this time, I had learned several new tricks. I could sit in the chair at the table and rake food off (I sometimes even made it to my mouth. Dang, wish I had thumbs!) My favorite human food is saltine crackers. I also enjoy biscuit crumbs, tomatoes, and French fries. On Saturdays, Mommie gives me a doughnut to lick the sugar off of. She says that's how I know it is Saturday. Oh, I like pickles sometimes and jalapeno cheese (even though it upsets my stomach.) The only foods I like to chase are crackers and French fries, though. They fly the best.

Soon after Mommie "catnapped" me, we moved again. By this time, I learned to really enjoy riding in cars. After all this wasn't half bad. Not every time we go for rides do we end up at the vet's. Besides, that nice warm lap of Mommie's is always there and she even lets me rest my paw on the steering wheel sometimes to help her drive. Bridges make me nervous, though. I'm afraid they're going to fall on us. I always duck, just in case. You can't be too careful. Mommie never goes away overnight without taking me in the car with her. Sometimes Mommie, Daddy and I all go to far-away places. We always stay in Holiday Inns and I always get that holiday feeling. Mommie goes to tell everyone at the hotels that I am in the rooms so they won't come in to accidentally let me out. I love looking out the window and watching all the strangers walk by. Sometimes, I find secret hiding places between the bed springs and sit very quietly while everyone looks for me. That's another fun game which I think Mommie does not enjoy very much. Once, at a Holiday Inn on the Mississippi Coast, I forgot myself and ran out the door to chase a squirrel who had been taunting me through the window. I quickly remembered I wasn't supposed to go outside, and scampered back into my room.

Some of my favorite things are:

• Christmas

• Snow!

• Nose kisses

• Belly rubs

• Flashlights

• Getting brushed

• Sitting in windows and watching my birds eat and my flowers grow

• Lying in sunny spots on the floor

• Lying on heating pads when it's cold

• Snuggling

• Riding in cars

• Going to Grandmama's house (I'm the only animal who has ever been there.)

• Staying at Holiday Inns
  
  It was in Mommie's new apartment where I spent the remainder of my life. Once again, I had stairs to rip and run on. Mommie made a bird feeder and a garden outside my favorite window to entertain me while she was at work. She even put a picture of herself on the refrigerator at my eye-level so I could rub my whiskers on it when I missed her during the day. Summertimes were the best. Mommie was home all day and we could snuggle and take cat naps together in the afternoons, basking in the sunshine that spilled through the bedroom window. I loved warming her lap when she watched television in her lounge chair. My licking and purring never failed to put her to sleep. She said my "final lick down" at night while I lay at her feet in the bed was her favorite and the rhythmic lick lick lick of my tongue soothed her. When it was really cold, I would snuggle curled up next to her stomach like a little kitty spoon, my nose tucked beneath my tail.
  
  Oh, how I loved Christmas! The sparkling lights on the tree would reflect in my pretty green eyes! Mommie had a plethora of kitty ornaments to hang on the tree and the only one I was jealous of was the "Christmas Pussy" she put on the top of the tree. I think it was because it looked just like me. Sometimes at Christmas, it would snow too! That's when I got to go outside and get my paws right in it! What glorious stuff! Mommie would make me come inside much too soon, because she was afraid I would get frostbite. Even though I know it's not dignified, I would cry and cry to get back out in the snow.
  
  I  lived a very good life. I stayed in some of the finest Holiday Inns in the South, visited some of the finest cities, was well-loved and well-fed. When I first started showing signs of illness, my mommie and vet tried everything they knew to find out what was wrong with me. Mommie even took me to the Mississippi State University Veterinarian College for diagnosis. In the end, though, we both knew that I was too sick and weak and ready to leave. I know that someday my mommie will join me again. She did the last best thing that she knew to do for me and let me go ahead of her quietly, with dignity, purring in her arms. My little body is buried in my garden now outside the window that I sat in for many years, and beautiful flowers will grow around me in the spring. Let your tears bring  rainbows to your memories, Mommie. I'll be that shadow you see in the hallways of your heart. Always and forever.
  

  A MESSAGE FROM THE RAINBOW BRIDGE

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  "Holly Asleep" drawing by Peter Durand

  "I Will Always Love You"

  

  The tubes used for this page are from Jane's Paint Shop Pro CD, available here. Thank you, Jane.