Today is the day that I always celebrated as Kiera’s birthday. It was the day that I was able to take her home from the no-kill cat shelter where we’d found each other.

I’d gone to the shelter just to look. There was a play room, where they first brought one kitten who was playful and friendly.

Then the staff brought in Kiera (whose name at the time was Little Miss). She sat far away from me, not interacting much, but purring loudly. (I realized later that it had been a fearful purr, that she was purring so loudly to comfort herself.) They told me of her circumstances, about how someone had moved out of their apartment and just left her behind. She was also not a kitten. The staff urged me to take her and not the kitten, who someone else was certain to adopt. Plus, they thought it was perfect that I worked from home, so Kiera wouldn’t feel abandoned.

That was eighteen years ago today, so she would have been nineteen today.

I still miss her. I still think about how I have to do something in a hurry because she’s waiting for me at home, only to remember that there’s no kitty.

The grief has eased. Time has blunted it, and it isn’t as sharp. Kind of a mess today though, as I knew I would be.

I figured I’d post two final pictures.

I’m wearing my travel jewelry again. I put in my earrings and I’m not planning on taking those out again. Which means all my other earrings needed to go somewhere.

I commissioned a jewelry box from Lori Crain. The picture is one that I took of Kiera, that I then isolated and made into an icon, which she then used on this beautiful box.

While I was looking through pictures, I found this second one. It didn’t make a good icon, but it does show just how much personality Kiera had. So much attitude for such a little cat.