Gypsy was adopted from an animal shelter back in 1998. We all argue over who exactly picked her - no one is laying claim to doing so. She came with annoying habits (like a screechy fish-wife style meow and a penchant for stealing whatever food was left lying about) and was very different from our other cat. Still, she grew to be part of our family and we made space for her in our hearts.
A few years ago her pink nose began to show signs of sores. Turns out she had skin cancer. We had her operated on - the vet removed part of her nose. She got along just fine without it. Over the past year the cancer had slowly eaten away at her nose and mouth. She was a fright to look at but we still loved her. Over the past few weeks life began to take its toll. Letting her go has been a hard decision but letting her live on and suffer would have been harder. Today we said goodbye.
We're glad one of us picked her and we will miss her dearly. I look for her everywhere. Every moment of every day there will be memories lurking around the house.
