A Tribute to Socks - A Very Cool Cat...

Socks had to inspect everything that happened around here...

November 13th:
Yesterday morning Socks left us...she was very, very sick so I gave the ok to end her suffering.  That's how she entered my life too, as a very sick young cat. 
In the summer of 2001,the summer that my mother died, I had spent a week visiting with my dad in Ohio while Chris enjoyed the week at a summer camp nearby.  On Saturday I had loaded my van with stuff dad had given me, and planned to leave for home on Sunday after attending church with dad.  The van was full, with only enough space left for Chris and I to sit in.  On Sunday morning I was standing at the kitchen sink washing a few dishes when I heard a small squeaky sound that sounded like "me, you". There's a window above the kitchen sink, and on the other side of the window was a black and white, teeny- tiny little cat, that even at a glance I could tell was in very bad shape.  She was very persistent, she looked straight at me and kept saying, "me-you".  Chris and his cousin Donna took her around to the neighbors to make sure that she didn't belong to anyone, I tried to find a home for her there in Ohio...but, nothing worked out, she was right...it was going to be "me-you". I called Rod to ask if he cared if I brought home another animal that needed saved, to add to our already full house of critters, and being the generous man that he is he said yes. Chris and Donna named her Socks, and I looked for something for her to ride in on the 3 1/2 hr. trip home to PA.  All I could find at my dad's was a huge box that a computer had come in.  I then had to re-pack the entire van so that this box would fit into the seat beside Chris.  That would not even have been necessary because Socks collapsed and slept soundly all the way home.  Within a few days of being at home Socks became very, very sick and I spent a small fortune at the vets to make her well again.  We will never regret having her as our family member these past 9 years, she was one cool cat, always up to something, and always making us laugh!  There will be many times when something will happen to remind us of Socks stories, some will be daily reminders:

When I take the dogs on their daily walk on the trail through the woods Socks would always come along, this earned her one of her nicknames, "Ima"- for "Ima dog".  I suspect that she wasn't joining in the walk because of me, but because she loves our Akita so much, and wants to be with him.  Either way, my daily walks always included a little black and white cat following along.  And no matter how many cats have come into our home, Socks never cared for them like she has loved the dogs.

Another nickname Socks had earned was "Socks-in-a- box", because she loved boxes, and sometimes within moments of a box being set on the floor, she was inside of it, and sometimes they wouldn't even have to be on the floor...  No matter what type of box it was, she'd climb into it and check it out, sometimes staying for a nap.  So, she loved Christmas time, when the boxes of ornaments would be around.  It can be quite startling to open the flaps of a box and there's a sleeping cat inside!

  I know this blog is supposed to be about our house, and in a way it is... because of my being so preoccupied with the house and all that was going on I made a mistake and I did not notice that Socks was sick, so I couldn't even tell the vet exactly when she had become ill.  She went to sleep forever, in my arms, at 9:30 a.m Friday, and I think I'll always feel terrible that I didn't see that she was sick and wonder if I might have been able to save her, like I did 9 years ago when she first introduced herself to me with her pitiful little "Me-You"...

This post is a tribute to Socks...she was a very cool cat...

Socks napping under Mikito's tail

loving Mikito