Gizmo

Gizmo, Gizmaroon, Giz, Gizzie, Gizmo the Gizmapolitan Kitty... these were all the names of this beautiful little girl that came into our lives 10 years ago a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving.

I went to pick up my 12 year old son from band practice and found him sitting outside of his middle school playing with something. I couldn't tell what it was, but when he saw me he started to walk towards our car and I could see this cute kitten following him. He wanted to keep her, but we really didn't need another pet. I told him to get in the car, but he curled up his bottom lip and stared to cry saying "It's cold out here and she'll freeze. There's no food for her, she'll starve". So I told him we could take her home, but we had to find a place for her.

To my son's credit, he called all of his friends, but no one wanted a kitten. I called all of the no-kill animal shelters, but being so close to the holidays, no one would take her. We drove around the school looking for signs saying someone was missing a kitten. None were to be found.

I was talking to my girlfriend (now she's my wife) and told her about the kitten. I described the kitten to her and my girlfriend said it sounded like she looked like the character Gizmo from the movies "Gremlins". I hadn't seen the movie, but it sounded like a good name, so that's what we named her.

After a couple of weeks of looking for a home for Gizmo, we had become so attached to her that we just kept her. She was a small bundle of joy. She slept with my son and followed him around the house whenever he was there. He was definitely her person.

When she was about 2 years old she started coughing. I took her to the vet and he said that she had asthma. He put her on prednisone. She got better, but would have occasional bouts of it.

My son graduated from high school and left for the Army. Gizzie missed him and would sit outside of his bedroom door, meowing to get in. Her care became my responsibility.

That's when we got really close. When we moved to Arlington a few months later her asthma got worse. The attacks became more frequent and more severe. One night she was so bad that I was up all night with her. Although my son never lived in our current house, his furniture and clothes were in his new room and Giz could smell him. Whenever she had an asthma attack, I would put her in there and she would calm down.

This fall her attacks became worse and worse. She needed more and more prednisone and albuterol. We got to the point where we would rush home after work to check on her. We never stopped off anywhere on the way home. If we were going to go out to dinner, we went home to check on Gizmaroon first. We didn't stay out late and a couple of times changed our plans because she was having trouble breathing.

My son and his wife came down to Texas for a visit on Halloween. Gizzie was so happy to see him. I'm glad he came down and saw her because on November 5th she woke me up early coughing. I did everything I could for her, but she didn't recover this time. Our beloved little Gizmo crossed over the rainbow bridge at 5:45 am.

I still can't believe she's gone. She had always recovered before, but not this time. I'm heartbroken. I missed her terribly. I stillwant to rush home to check on her, when I wake up in the middle of the night I get out of bed and go look for her to check her breathing. Some nights I've woken up thinking I could hear her coughing.

Although she was my son's cat, because I had to take care of her, I grew to love her so much. I miss her so much. I have just now gotten to the point where I could write this dedication to Gizzie.

My beloved little Gizmo, I miss you so much, but I know you are over the Rainbow Bridge and can now do all of the things you could in your life because of your asthma. Have fun my little friend and know that I will always have a place in my heart for you.

Someday soon, I will do a picture filled dedication of you, my sweet little friend. One that is befitting of the love and joy you gave to us all.