Nancy Reagan

In 2004 I became a cat mom for the first time on my own. Through way of Alexis, I took in a wild little orange kitten who had more personality than a lot of humans. He became mine on the day of Ronald Reagan's funeral, so he was Reagan. Reagan eventually decided life in the wild was more his thing, and he left our family for the great outdoors of California back in 2012.

But, when we were in Colorado, Reagan gained a feline friend when we bought our first house. During our house visits, this cat would not leave us alone. She followed us, room to room, and jumped on our laps anytime we sat down. She was malnourished, had gotten sick all over the house, and was not well taken care of all around. But, she was the sweetest cat I'd ever seen, and she stole our hearts. We didn't care for her name, so we decided to give her the only name that was suitable to go with Reagan. Nancy became the fifth member of our family, weighed in around 6 pounds soaking wet, and she ruled the roost. Reagan and Layla knew immediately that their new home was actually Nancy's home. Layla, who has 70 pounds on nancy on a good day, bowed out of the running for the water bowl anytime nancy entered the room, and somehow fat boy Reagan was trained to walk away from the water bowl if Nancy needed a nibble.

We were told by the former owners of the house that it was good we didn't have kids, because Nancy hated kids. We were also told to watch out for Layla because she didn't care for dogs either. While the latter wasn't too far off (Layla grew on her after a few swipes at her face) I have never seen a cat love babies and kids like Nancy. 

She has had her tail pulled, her fur man-handled, her ears yanked, and has otherwise been squished and pushed and pulled for 6 years straight. Our kids adore their Nancy, and the best way they know how to show that is through physical abuse. 

But, Nancy has kept her claws in and patiently allowed the kids to treat her however they would like. She didn't just endure it, she loved it.

They fed her Cheerios when she was hungry.

She kept them company while they napped.

She offered a soft pillow to rest their heads. 

And overall, she just wanted to be wherever they were.

Nancy quietly and peacefully left us today. She spent her last day resting in our laundry room and left in the middle of the night, drama free in her usual fashion. She was 16 years old, and we got to be with her for the last 9 of those. She was an incredibly loved cat, but we were the fortunate ones. Nancy will be dearly missed, I'm just pretty sure by me the most.