Yesterday morning my cat, Monroe, darted out into the street and got run over. A girl brought him to my door step and I got to hold him as he was passing away. He was my best friend =(
However, the story about Monroe is much more tragic then just the way he died:
When I first moved to Portland I went out in search of friends to become established in my new city. I ended up meeting the most amazing boy I had ever seen, Bernard. I admired Bernard so much because he wasn't afraid to dress as he pleased, to wear makeup, paint his nails and be a feminine and stylish boy. I moved here from Mississippi, so I had never met or even seen anyone like Bernard. Needless to say, he quickly became my hero.
Bernard and I hit it off immediately and we started dating shortly after we met. I opened up to him and told him my real reason for moving to Portland... to transition. Oddly enough, he was already in the process of getting on HRT to transition as well. We dated for a few months until we both started to transition, and then decided to break up and just be best friends while transitioning. So, here I was in Portland, beginning my transition with my former boyfriend, who now called herself Elle.
I knew Elle was lonely, and so for Christmas I bought her a little Siamese kitten... she told me if the kitten was a girl that her name would be Marilyn, and if a boy it would be Monroe. When we went to pick out her kitty, the boy Siamese ran up to her, jumped in her lap, started purring and fell asleep... and that's how we knew Monroe was the cat for her.
For the next year, Elle was the only person I spent any time with... in fact, she was really the only person I knew in Portland. She was the perfect friend, and I loved her so much =) However, things sorta changed between us, she became very sad and very distant from me. We started arguing quite a bit and I could tell that something wasn't quite right, but she wouldn't tell me what. So, one day we were scheduled to meet downtown and she never showed. I called her and I was upset... we had a little disagreement and we got off the phone. Little did I know, that would be the last time I ever spoke to my best friend. Three days went by and I still hadn't heard from Elle, I was beginning to get worried so I started calling around... then around 8 PM that night her friend called me and had found her dead in her apartment... she had hung herself.
In her suicide note she left me Monroe because she knew I would take care of him and love him like no other. I went over to her house, picked up my new kitty, and brought him home to live with me and Luigi. For the next 2 years I spoiled that cat rotten, and in many ways I was more attached to him than I was Luigi.
Two nights ago I went to sleep with Monroe in my arms. I have a cat door that I left opened for the night, so my cats can run in and out if they wish. Little did I know, that would be the last time I ever spent with my kitty. Shortly after I fell asleep, Monroe left my arms to go outside. At 2 AM I awoke to a girl beating on my door, crying on my doorstep, holding my cats collar in her hands with my cat lying in front of her. I held his little limp body until he went cold, and slept with him on the kitchen floor. He was the last remnant of my best friend Elle, and a big part of me died yesterday with my cat. I wasn't only staying goodbye to Monroe, but to the constant reminder of my former best friend as well.
Yesterday, we bought a Japanese Maple tree, dug a whole, put Monroe in it and put the tree on top of him... and placed his collar around the tree. I figure the tree will absorb his body and energy, and in a sense he will still live with me =)
Luigi on the left, Monroe on the right... Monroe was just a little kitty here
Monroe's Tree, he is buried under this.
Luigi looks for Monroe =(
