It has taken me quite awhile to come up with the words to say for this memorial and I still feel that anything I say will come up sadly lacking. Snickers was my "baby girl", my "sweetpea", and my "cutie". She, along with her brother Domino, were the first pets I'd ever had that I could call my own. When I got her, it was not intentional. Sherri's cat, Patty, had had a litter of kittens back in 1998. Having found homes for all the rest, and knowing I'd expressed an interest in one particularly precocious and sociable kitty, Domino, she told me she also had another kitten that needed a home but I had only planned to take one.

When the day came to pick up Domino and I saw Snickers, I fell in love. She was the tiniest kitten in the litter and was a colorful tortie that reminded me of the inside of a Snickers bar, my favorite candy bar and, hence, her name was born. She was shy and timid but just wanted love and attention. When I saw her I couldn't bear the thought of leaving her behind or of leaving Domino by himself at home when I was at work, so I took them both home with me. Snickers grew attached to me, took up residence in my lap, and had one of the loudest purrs for a kitten her size I'd ever heard. When I was asleep, her favorite place to be was curled up at my chest as I lay on my side. Her favorite activities were playing with Domino, rolling in the cat litter, and finding ways to get all the attention she could. She was never as sociable around anyone as she was around me, preferring instead to hide under the nearest chair or table when anyone else came around.

For seven years I enjoyed her love and companionship, and she lived her life in relative good health until her final days, when I started to notice she didn't want to be picked up, her walk was kind of limping and strained, and she didn't eat or drink much. When I took her to the vet they said she had complete renal(kidney)failure. The recommended course of treatment would cost hundreds of dollars with no guarantee that she would even live three days, much less months or years. The alternatives were to have her put down or to bring her home to live out her days in as much comfort as Sherri and I could provide for her. I decided I couldn't bear the thought of her last moments being spent in a vets office on a table, so we brought her home. I remember on the ride home I had her in my arms, wrapped in a towel. Normally she would have never stood for this, as she hated car rides, but as we went down the road towards home, she was right there, quiet and still, and looking up at me as if to tell me I'd made the right choice. I will never forget those big, round, beautiful eyes.

Later that day after we'd brought her home, we found her curled up in the cat pole (one of her favorite places to sleep). She had crossed the Rainbow Bridge. We laid her to rest, wrapped in the same towel that carried her home, in a beautiful spot not far from the lake we frequent. Her brother misses her terribly, and so do I, but at least she is somewhere where she feels no pain.

The Rainbow Bridge Just this side of heaven is a place called the Rainbow Bridge. When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to the Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable. All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind. They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster. You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart. Then you cross the Rainbow Bridge together.... ~Author Unknown