This is the hardest story about Charlie to write but certainly among the most important. It’s the story about her final months leading up to her passing. I want to tell it because I know many others have gone through this experience and can relate to how it feels. I think that Charlie’s story is one I can be proud to tell.

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.

Charlie was born sometime in September of 2008. That would put her birth right at the time of the Global Financial Crisis that many do not remember fondly. I am unsure of the exact date because she was originally a stray cat born in Arlington Heights, Illinois. From what I knew, she spent a month or two outside as a kitten before the shelter (The Buddy Foundation) scooped her up. They named her Lacey.

At the same time, I was living with my girlfriend around that same area. It was actually she who wanted to adopt a cat, not me. I had a cat when I was a kid so I always loved animals and especially cats. Naturally, I had no problem going with her to the shelter.