It’s been one year since Oreo crossed the Rainbow Bridge.

That first anniversary is always the hardest, isn’t it?

I decided to write him a letter to let him know what was on my heart…

Oreo, 

We watched you for years as you ran around the neighborhood. Dad would go out on his walks and talk about this super-fast black and white cat on the next street over.

You lived under my neighbor’s barn across the street. Feral. Afraid of human contact. 

When I first started feeding in 2014, you would sit in front the barn and feel the ground vibrations so you would know it was safe to cross the street and come over to grab a snack.

Sometimes, I would see you on the heated bed inside the shed the morning, waiting for me to bring breakfast. 

I always told you to stay. But you never did. 

Sometimes you greeted me with this loud meow that sounded like a cat bird. 

If I took even one step too close to you, you would run away. 

You protected Fluffy and her Kits before I rescued them. I remember The Kits stealing your food right out from under you inside the shed. So I would meet you outside of the shed with a bowl of food to call your own. 

When you were recovering from your neuter in our bathroom in 2015, you started crying at the top of your lungs at 3am and didn’t stop until I released you around 8am 😂😂

But not before you got loose in the bathroom and we stood there for an hour, both too scared of each other to move 😂😂

You were over 10 years old when you were neutered…

You took Trouble, who was just a kitten at the time, under your wing in Winter, 2016. 

You spent two years grooming him to be the next Lion King. 

You and Trouble had one of the cutest and most dysfunctional relationships I’ve ever seen ❤️❤️

You FINALLY officially moved here in Winter, 2016. And, thus, our colony was born. 

And you were The Lion King. 

The first time I played with you, you were too interested in play to be scared of me. 

You danced around my legs for over a month before you got the nerve up to make contact. 

It wasn’t long after that I was FINALLY “allowed” to pet you and show you how much I love you. 

Your colony lives on. 

Your little “seedlings”…Charlie, Junior, Domino, and The Kits…carry your legacy. 

As well as your little Lion King “in training”, Trouble, who is sitting right next to me, purring, as I type and I cry. 

Your grave and flag overlook the colony that YOU created, protected, and mentored. 

At last, you found your FOREVER HOME. 

You live on in our colony and in our hearts. 

This morning, I heard your signature “meow” in two cat birds carrying on right above us. 

We hardly ever hear cat birds here. 

I know that was your way of telling me that you are still here. 

I hope you know how LOVED and MISSED you are. 

Thank you for giving me the chance to make right when other humans failed you. 

Thank you for caring for us, our property, our colony and Fluffy and The Kits. 

Thank you for letting us LOVE you. 🌈🎈❤️ 😇 

Love, 
Mommy Kitten 😘

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