Pets: The lifeline of families

In the past year, my family cat, Daisy, got sick and began showing signs of old age. In August, she passed away. She was 18-years-old. Eighteen years old. Crazy, right? She lived longer than some people do, and man can I tell you she lived a full life.

I grew up around cats my whole life. My Grandma owned three cats, and we got our first when my Mom went on deployment. I was only 8-years-old at the time, and my sister was 11. We were ecstatic that Daisy was ours. But over the years, we would come to realize she was much more than a cat. In many ways, she was the lifeline of our family.

Lifeline

We were strong without Daisy, but we were stronger with her. Over the years, she alleviated the pain that soiled my family. Through hardship and loss, pets have a unique way of doing this. Pets never speak a word, and the only way they can show you love is through their actions. The beauty stems from this place of silent, stringless love.

Unconditional love

If there is one thing a pet can provide that a human cannot, it’s unconditional love. By definition, this means to love without any conditions. Meaning, nothing can waiver the love they have for you. It’s why many people get pets in the first place. If they are feeling lonely or maybe they want a change in their lives, they may adopt a pet. The reason being, they believe a cat or dog will love them with no strings attached. Although I suppose the strings would be feeding and giving them attention, you know what I mean, though.

Daisy

When I was younger, our family cat, Daisy, would run from me. But the older I grew, and she grew, she started to come to me more often. She even started to lay with me, which was unheard of years prior. She was and is the most beautiful cat I’ve ever seen. Her mustache and socks made her so adorable. I loved the way her pupils grew when I opened the shades or the way she would attack my hand as if it was another cat.

Ultimately, her love, playfulness, and sweetness took away much of the pain our family experienced, or at the very least, lessened it. In this way, pets are often the lifeline of families. They are genuine family members. There through the good times and the bad. If there is one thing I could’ve ever told Daisy that she would understand, it would be, thank you. Thank you for everything, and this family will always love you, baby girl.