The Rich Life: Callie

For the first several years of Jeanell's and my marriage, we didn't have any pets. At some point when we lived in Ogden, Jeanell decided to get an aquarium with a few fish and a lobster named Mikey. We had that for a while, but eventually the fish (and Mikey) died off and the aquarium was scrapped.

That would all change in the summer of 2008, when our neighbors' (Kirk and Vickie Day) cat gave birth to a litter of kittens and Kirk and Vickie put it in our kids' heads that they should convince Mom and Dad to let them have one. I believe our initial answer was "no," but that didn't last long and it wasn't long before Jeanell went with the boys and picked out a beautiful little calico that would join our family. We would name her Callie.

Callie was just months older than Lila and while in general Callie wasn't a particularly friendly cat, especially to people outside of our immediate family, she had amazing patience with Lila, who treated Callie more like a baby doll than a cat for most of her early years.

Unlike our current cats, Callie almost always slept with Jeanell and I, usually nestling herself above Jeanell's head. She always seemed to be there for our kids, and would seem to sense when they were sad and needed some comfort, on which occasions she would nuzzle into them or cuddle up with them.

Also unlike our current cats, Callie like to be outside, and would watch for opportunities to dash out when someone opened the door. At times, she would be gone for a day or two at a time, roaming the fields behind our home in Elwood.

My relationship with Callie was more distant. I rarely sought her attention, which if you know anything about cats, you know that means I frequently got it. I would just be sitting somewhere minding my own business and she would jump up on my lap and sit until I got up or moved her. When I first started working from home, my computer was in a little nook in our basement and during the day Callie and I would be the only ones there. She would frequently jump on my lap and sit there while I worked (which I've joked made me feel like Dr. Claw from Inspector Gadget).

My main cat-related job was then, as it is now, to empty the litter-boxes. I would also sometimes help to take her to the vet, but that was the extent of my involvement.

When we made the decision to move back to Grantsville, Callie came with us. She moved into to Grandma and Grandpa Jefferies house with us for several months while our house was built. Grandma Jefferies already had a cat, Tisha, who was nearing the end of her life and would pass away while we lived there and Callie did not tolerate Tisha very well.

If you wanted to get on my kids' bad side, one sure-fire way to do it was to bother Callie. At one point, we were holding a practice for a Sociable number at Grandma Jefferies house and some of the kids who came for the practice started teasing Callie. My kids were about to lose their minds. We quickly removed Callie from the room so she wouldn't be bothered.

We moved into our own home in 2015 and Callie again went with us. She adapted to her new surroundings and continue to be an important part of our family.

In the spring of 2018, we suddenly noticed a change in her behavior. Since she was already an older cat and wasn't particularly active, we maybe didn't notice as soon as we might have that she was moving and eating less. But finally Caleb said that he thought something was wrong with Callie and with very little reflection, we realized he was right.

We got an appointment with the vet, but she continue to deteriorate and we worried that she wouldn't make it to our appointment. But she did, and Jeanell and I took her up to the vet to see if we could find out what was wrong. The vet could immediately see that she was jaundiced and after running some tests, confirmed that her liver was failing. There were some things that could be tried, but nothing was likely to be successful. I hadn't considered myself particularly emotionally attached and was surprised as my voice cracked and tears came to my eyes as I asked, "So are we just supposed to take her home and watch her die?"

The poor vet we were talking to was brand new and Jeanell asked to talk to the more experienced vet who had been more involved with Callie's care. The conversation was helpful, but the results were the same. Together, we decided the best thing we could do for her at this point was to put her to sleep.

We went through that painful process and after she was gone, wrapped her in a blanket to take her back home so the kids could say goodbye. Everything happened so fast and I don't know that we were really able to communicate with the kids beforehand what was happening. I know that Lila in particular was not aware of what had transpired.

When we got home, I remember Jeanell carefully carrying Callie into our bedroom and lying her on the bed. Lila burst in and immediately started sobbing as Jeanell said, "Come and tell Callie goodbye." We had called Devin, who was living in Salt Lake at the time, on our way home, and he immediately drove out to Grantsville to be with us.

We spent an hour or more just being together, shedding tears and being sad. Eventually we placed her into a box with a blanket and buried her in the flowerbeds in our backyard. We then went to Home Depot and bought a tree that we planted in the same spot where we buried her.

Devin would call Callie "Bashuga" and Jeanell had a sign made that said "Bashuga Tree."

Our cat family has expanded since then, and we love our current Sammie, Charlie, Maggie, and Gerdie a great deal, but I don't know if any other cat will ever have quite the same impact on our family that Callie did.

We love and miss you Callie.