How We Met

When I was in fourth grade, my friend moved in up the street. Not long after that a stray tabby took up residence there. My friends brothers' named her Tootsie. She lived outside, and we soon found the reason she was there. She had had kittens. Within the next year she had had another litter of 4 kittens. I was going to take one home when they were old enough, but we couldn't catch them because they were wild. I had named one of them caramel. A couple days later I got a different cat, who I named Miracle. Between 5-7 grades, Tootsie had 3-4 more litters of kittens. The first litter she had during seventh grade, there were seven. The last litter she had in seventh grade had four. Two weeks after they were born, the kittens were found dead, because they were attacked and mauled by a raccoon. Tootsie was found dead the next day. Whether she had a heart attack or died fighting for her kittens we will never know. But this past spring Tootsie, who was a sweet loving cat that let you pick her up even though she was wild, and her four most recent litter of kittens died. Let her and her kittens rest in peace. She was buried with the kittens in my friend's yard and she will never be forgotten.