(by StevenPreusser) My parents found Bubba the Halloween after I turned 3. We grew up together. He hogged the bed while I would cry myself to sleep, and I’d sneak him extra food when he’d secretly beg me for it. He always put up with mine & my brothers torture, and he escaped death about one-thousand and one times. He’d purr as loud as a lion, especially while eating canned food, and loved absolutely every stranger.  Except for the one time he met the neighbor boy -and my future husband- (long before I ever did) and bit his hand out of nowhere. Steven got a taste of his ever-so-nonexistent aggression. Soon after he moved to California, however, they became the best of friends. I think Bubba was just warning him in the very early beginning. He gained all the weight that I lost as an insecure young teenager in the midst of my inconsistent waves of depression. He loved the sun, and he’d lay on the concrete for hours and hours on end. He had the memory of an elephant, too. One time, while traveling to a new military assignment (Utah to Mississippi), Bubba ran away from the hotel we were staying at in Albuquerque. We had to leave the day after, and didn’t have time to find him. My mom was devastated. We all were. He showed up to the hotel the day after we left, though, and the concierge gave him his very own room to stay in until a friend of ours could make a cross-country trip to bring him back home to us. He was more independent than I’ve ever been. And he always knew how to find his way back to us. Right before my parents moved to Texas they decided they needed to find him a new home. He is old and does terrible, God-awful, horrible riding in the car. It made my heart hurt just thinking of him not being in the family anymore. It’s just abnormal and uncomfortable knowing I won’t see him again. Knowing where he went gives me a sense of comfort, though. An elderly couple, who had lost their dear cat earlier this year, was given Bubba from one of their daughters. He is now living in Reno, and from what we’ve been told, Bubba has reignited the spirits of these two souls. He’s getting the love and attention he needs, while giving his golden heart away to the new loves of his life. I miss him and I don’t think another cat will ever live up to what he gave me, but I know he’s in good hands, and that makes all the difference.

(by StevenPreusser)

My parents found Bubba the Halloween after I turned 3.

We grew up together. He hogged the bed while I would cry myself to sleep, and I’d sneak him extra food when he’d secretly beg me for it. He always put up with mine & my brothers torture, and he escaped death about one-thousand and one times. He’d purr as loud as a lion, especially while eating canned food, and loved absolutely every stranger.  Except for the one time he met the neighbor boy -and my future husband- (long before I ever did) and bit his hand out of nowhere. Steven got a taste of his ever-so-nonexistent aggression. Soon after he moved to California, however, they became the best of friends. I think Bubba was just warning him in the very early beginning.

He gained all the weight that I lost as an insecure young teenager in the midst of my inconsistent waves of depression. He loved the sun, and he’d lay on the concrete for hours and hours on end. He had the memory of an elephant, too. One time, while traveling to a new military assignment (Utah to Mississippi), Bubba ran away from the hotel we were staying at in Albuquerque. We had to leave the day after, and didn’t have time to find him. My mom was devastated. We all were. He showed up to the hotel the day after we left, though, and the concierge gave him his very own room to stay in until a friend of ours could make a cross-country trip to bring him back home to us. He was more independent than I’ve ever been.

And he always knew how to find his way back to us.

Right before my parents moved to Texas they decided they needed to find him a new home. He is old and does terrible, God-awful, horrible riding in the car.

It made my heart hurt just thinking of him not being in the family anymore. It’s just abnormal and uncomfortable knowing I won’t see him again.

Knowing where he went gives me a sense of comfort, though. An elderly couple, who had lost their dear cat earlier this year, was given Bubba from one of their daughters. He is now living in Reno, and from what we’ve been told, Bubba has reignited the spirits of these two souls. He’s getting the love and attention he needs, while giving his golden heart away to the new loves of his life.

I miss him and I don’t think another cat will ever live up to what he gave me, but I know he’s in good hands, and that makes all the difference.