I loved my morning routines with Charlie throughout the years. For most of her life I had to get up and go to work in the morning. But, for the last seven years of her life, I was working from home. I am lucky enough to say that for 40% of our time together on this Earth I was able to work from home and be with her all day.

I was very lucky. Most people do not get that amount of time even with their own kids, let alone pets. But I did.

The video I included was from September 2023 on just a random morning with Charlie. Not sure what made me record her usual morning harassment that day, but I’m glad I did. If you listen close, toward the end you can hear her grumble-meow like she always did when she thought I was being weird (or she wanted food).

The Early Years

When she was a kitten and I was still living with my ex at the time, Charlie displayed the same pattern. Whenever my ex went to shower in the morning, Charlie would jump up on the bed for her morning pets. I was able to go into work a little later in the day so I typically slept in longer until about 8:00 AM.

It didn’t matter though, I was woken up each morning regardless. Ex goes into the shower, Charlie jumps up, lays on the comforter, and I gave her half-asleep pets. Then, when my ex would turn the shower off, Charlie knew this and would jump back off the bed in a hurry while my ex came out to finish getting ready.

I just don’t think Charlie liked her very much which makes me laugh to think about now. Charlie always snuck in each morning for some quick pets; then when I finally did wake up, it was harassment for more food and pets.

I would take my shower. When I got out, Charlie would often lay on the bundle of clothes that I would lazily keep on the bathroom floor. I was only 25 at the time and still had my bad habits…but Charlie took advantage.

After my showers I would find her sitting on top of the mountain of clothes. I would scootch down and give her pets and play with her, sometimes burying her in the clothes-mountain. She loved this game and so we started to play it every morning, even after my ex and I broke up.

In the early years, this was our routine every day. Morning wake up pets, post-shower pets, then more pets right as I walked out the door. It was a simple life, but a good one.

The Later Years

Charlie and I moved around to many different places. From Mount Prospect, IL to Lake Villa, Evanston, out to Denver, CO, Lonetree, then back to Woodridge, IL (with a brief stint in Wheaton, IL)…we’d been to a lot of different places.

No matter where we went, our morning routine always involved her morning wake up pets. They only varied depending on whether I had to get up to go drive to work, or during my work from home years. Of these, I liked the work from home years best.

During her last six years, I was able to work from home the entire time. The above picture is another example of what I saw every morning with the notable exception that she felt like having her tongue hang out in this one.

In those last years, I would give her morning pets and pretend to get out of bed. Then, when she would jump down expecting me to get up to give her fresh food, I would lay back down and hide under the blanket. This would always garner a few meows before she would jump back up on the bed.

As I was hiding, I would occasionally lift the blanket really fast and she would grumble-meow at me. Then, back to hiding. It was essentially peek-a-boo but for messing with my cat.

Finally, on the last time I rushed the covers off of me, I would give her a hug and pets. She would have to escape me which she always did by jumping down again.

And that’s it, that was our morning game. We played it practically every day. It was a positive way to start my every day. It’s one of the things I miss most now.

These days, I just…get up. Just get out of bed. It definitely hits different.

The only exceptions were when I’d wake up later on the weekends and Charlie would eat, drink and then come back on the bed with me. I didn’t mind these mornings either because waking up to Charlie sleeping peacefully by me was just as good.

Here in this photo, you can see that she claimed some of my old clothes and decided that that was her bed spot now. “Oh well, those are hers now”, I figured.

Dealing with the Mornings

I mentioned this already but heading into the mornings without her is one of the hardest parts of losing her. Our routine meant a lot to me and it was the best start to my days that I could ask for. It was just her and I for 17 years. While we were scattered in different places, it never really mattered, because we got to spend that time together.

So now dealing with the mornings is much more difficult to bear. I don’t see her lying on the bed getting her sun; I don’t get to mess with her under the blanket; I don’t get to see her excitedly eat her fresh morning meal.

It’s much quieter now without her, but she is still with me in spirit. I know that thinking of her in the morning will always be the case no matter where I go or what I do for the rest of my life.

I am grateful for that reality despite how hard it is losing all the mornings we could have still had.

Thank you, Charlie, for our morning routines.

I love you.

I miss you.