The Story of Kitty

This is Kitty...His actual name is actually Mittens, but over the years, with all the kids, we've come to know him as Kitty. Kitty came into our lives 16 years ago when my son, Ryan, who was 7 at the time, came home from visiting my parents for the summer and brought us this tiny, little furball and said "Mom, please can we keep him?" What was I supposed to do, tell him take him back? There was no way that I could do that...I was the "sucker" parent...one look at him and the furball and I was hooked! My husband did not like cats at all and I knew it would be a fight to keep him, but he gave in and said "ok, we'll see how it goes".  After many, many, scratches, holes in the waterbed, and just plain trying to keep the darn cat alive with all the daycare kids at the time, I started catching my husband petting him and talking to him, of course when no one was supposed to see him, and I thought,  this is awesome, everybody loves the cat!
Now...you would have to know Kitty, he was the coolest cat ever! He was also a very large cat. The first response when people would see him for the first time was usually "Oh my God!! That cat is huge!!" I would just laugh at people, we were used to seeing this big old cat...I guess other people hadn't seen a cat that big! He really was the best cat ever...I did daycare in my home for most of my boys school years and the kids would squeal and chase him and he would just lay there and let them crawl all over him and pull his tail or whatever form of treatment and he would just hang out and watch them play, never scratching them or biting them. He has traveled some with me and my husband and although he likes to be with us, he hates to travel! He would howl and moan and groan all the way, but once we got to where we were going, he was fine ...kinda like the way I am..lol! 
This past year has been rough on him due to all the moving around with my dad and all the traveling we had to do without him, he pouts when we are gone, but thankfully, Ryan moved back home and was able to care for him while we were gone. We have loved this cat like he was one of our kids, we just loved him so much and yesterday, we got the call....Kitty has passed away. Although we are sad at his passing, we knew that he was very old and that it wouldn't be long before it was his time to go.  He has gone on to where ever it is Kitty's go when they leave their families. I like to think that he's with my Mom and Dad, waiting for us to show up and bring his toys and his favorite food, but not too sure about that, my dad called him fishbait...as a joke to get the kids riled up. I'm sure where ever he is, he is happy and at peace. We'll miss you Kitty, you were a faithful and loving friend to us!