When Kevin lived in Maryland, a little stray kitten showed up on the steps near his apartment. So Kevin talked to him and asked him if he wanted something to eat. The lady downstairs who had 9 cats told him that she thought the kitty lost its mom. She talked Kevin into keeping the kitty since there was no tag on it. The neighbor gave him some food and told Kevin it was a girl and so he named the kitty Emily. When Kevin took Emily in to be spayed, they told him "Well, you will be glad to know that it will be a lot cheaper as you have a boy, not a girl!" So the closest boy name to Emily he could think of was Emilio.
Emilio was very perceptive. He knew when people were not good. Kevin had a roommate that Emilio would growl at every time he saw him. Turns out the guy stole some checks from the back of Kevin's checkbook and went on a shopping spree.
He also was overly protective and not afraid of much! lol One time, when Emilio was still a kitten, there was a break-in! lol About 3am one morning Emilio was growling really loud. Kevin told him to shut up because he was trying to sleep but he just kept it up. Kevin thought something must be wrong so he finally got up and turned on the light. When he opened the closet door where the growling was coming from, he realized that Emilio had a big cat, twice his size, cornered in the closet. Apparently what happened was Kevin's air conditioning was broken so he left the sliding glass door open a crack (he lived on the second floor) and this other cat had come in through the open door. Emilio didn't like it and so he was protecting his territory! lol
One time Kevin was reading a Stephen King book and was in the middle of a particularly interesting part of the book, when it was all nice and quiet, late at night, the book "jumped out of my hands"! He screamed, threw the book and about wet himself! lol Emilio had attacked the book and scared Kevin to death and he in turn scared Emilio to death! lol
When we moved from Maryland to Florida, we rented a U-haul and put the cat carrier (which Kevin bought some giant one like for a medium-large size DOG! lol) in between the seats. When we were actually driving we would let him out and he would sit in the window of the U-haul. People driving by would see him and point and smile.
Emilio was not an overly loving/snuggly cat. He liked to do his own thing and only wanted to be pet, but not hugged or loved on really. His favorite place to be scratched was under his chin. Many times after we went to bed he would come in and sleep on Kevin's chest. He also followed Kevin around everywhere like a little puppy. I would sing "My Daddy, My Daddy, wherever he goes I go. My Daddy, My Daddy, My daddy and me!" (Do you remember the My Buddy doll and that commercial from the 80s? well, it is that song, but just my daddy instead of my buddy! lol)
He LOVED ice cream and if we were eating any he would stand near us and stare us down until we were done and put the bowl down for him to lick (sorry people if you ate out of our bowls, we rarely had ice cream so he didn't lick that many! lol) But one of the first times I met him I had a McFlurry and he was staring at me. Kevin said he liked ice cream so I put out the spoon to him and he totally licked it off! lol
Speaking of food, if I opened a can of tuna fish, the second the can opener pierced the can he would come running, meowing all the way! lol I could open any other can and he would not do it, but tuna fish he KNEW! lol Also if we took out the light blue bowl he would come running because he knew that was his bowl. He also would pick the cat food he wanted when we gave him Fancy Feast. We would put three different kinds on the floor and he would sniff and sniff and finally start loving one on of the cans, we knew that was the one he wanted that time! lol
Emilio was a great preditor. He could catch just about anything (luckily nothing too nasty! lol). Shortly after we were married and we were living with Kevin's parents. We were sitting on the bed talking before going to sleep and we noticed a mosquito flying around the room. Well we were trying to catch it without success. We lost track of where it was, but a few moments later Emilio went "pop" and slapped the wall smashing the mosquito! lol Another time a lizard got into our house and the cat knew he was in there and was chasing him around a couple of places. Kevin was trying to catch the lizard and get him out of the house. They were a great team! lol Well at one point I told Kevin, "I think the lizard is in the bedroom". He told me no it was by the front door and the shoe rack. I told him, "well that's not where Emilio is!" lol So Kevin reluctantly followed Emilio into the bedroom and they were both searching an area by the nightstand and the next thing we know the lizard tries to make a break for it. Emilio stepped on his tail and wouldn't let him go until Kevin picked up the lizard and took him outside! Good job baby!!! :-)
One morning when Kevin was working nights, I was sleeping and heard this strange cat cry outside the window. I was barely awake and blinking my eyes something fierce trying to see what was going on. I thought I saw Emilio out there having a showdown with some other cat. So I hopped up and ran to the front door. I threw it opened and knew for sure it was Emilio. I yelled at him "Emilio get in here right now!" (He is not an outdoor cat!!!! He was going to get killed!!! lol) He came running to safety and had been clawed up a bit on his head.
Recently, if I ever got up from my scrapbooking chair he would hop right up and settle in. I had to chase him off many times because I was not done I had just gotten up for a moment! lol Well twice, including the night before we had to put him to sleep, he kept giving me the evil eye. He wanted me to move out of the chair so he could get up! lol He finally would get to the point that he didn't want to wait any longer and would hop up in the chair behind me!!! lol (As seen in the picture below. Sorry not the best pic, but I wanted to snap it before he hopped down again.)
Kevin did not want to put him in the carrier to take him to the vet for the last time so he carried him to the car. He meowed but not as much as he usually does when he is in the car in his carrier.
Here they are together right before we put him to sleep. Poor Kevin was sobbing, it made me cry even more. We just kept telling him how much we loved him and I told him "night night baby" as he passed from this mortal existence. We were so sad to have this happen and he is missed grately already. It hurts a lot to have to make such a decision when you just don't know what is wrong, but you know something is. We didn't want to do this, but knew he was in a lot of pain and it was just time. I did not realize how much I truly would miss him. Especially since just about everyone knows Emilio and I had a love/hate relationship! lol
We took him and buried him in Kevin's parent's backyard. We know they will be in that house for a long time and we are not sure if we will stay in this house or not, so we wanted him to be in a place that he can be forever.
We love you Emilio. You will always be our first baby. You have brought so much love and joy to your Daddy. He is heartbroken you are gone. We are glad you are now without pain. We love you. Thank you for all of your love.
Today (4/7/10) we received a sympathy card in the mail from the vet's office. They had taken his paw prints after he was gone and put on the card. It was so sweet and something we will cherish forever.
Good night baby, we love and miss you. Thank you for being a part of our lives for so long. Thank you for loving us unconditionally. Hugs and kisses, Emilio.
Love,
Daddy, Mommy and Tye Tye
1 comment:
What a sweet tribute to him! Very well written! I lol at the bowl....now I will have to bring my own. lol!
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