Bits of news and a story

First off...only a few days left for the .99 cent sale on Suicide Watch, so get over to Amazon and buy it half price while you can! October 1st, it'll be returning to its usual $1.99.

Second...the Made of Stars blog tour starts September 30th! I've been filling out interviews and writing up guest posts. As soon as I have the full list of stops and dates, I'll be posting it. Keep an eye out for prizes, too!

Third...I'm going to tell you a story.

When I was a wee lass of only 12 (I've always wanted to say that), my family and I were driving from Sacramento down to Fresno to visit my aunt and cousins. We were in two cars. If memory serves, I was in the car with my sister's boyfriend (later to be her husband).

Many parts of the freeway from here to Fresno are pretty barren, and it was around 8:00pm and fairly dark. So it was a lot of luck that Jeremy--sister's boyfriend--saw the small dog darting across the freeway and had time to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting her. The dog darted off to our right, into a gas station parking lot. This gas station and the Burger King beside it were the only things around for miles.

Both of our cars pulled over. My family headed inside Burger King, while I took a seat outside and watched this scrawny, weird little dog running around the parking lot and checking me out. After about 15 minutes, she finally ventured close enough that I could see she obviously had not been eating, and had likely been out here in the middle of nowhere for awhile. She had a seat about two feet from me. I threw my jacket over her and gathered her up, not sure if she had plans on biting me or whatever. (She didn't. She just sat in my arms and shivered.) My mom's boyfriend brought out a cheeseburger, which the dog ate in three bites. The employees as both businesses said she'd been there about two weeks and no one had come to claim her. We left our number and took her with us. No one ever called.

I named her Kaffi. (Dude, don't look at me like that. I was twelve.) For the next 14 years, Kaffi was my best friend. She moved to Indiana with me. She moved back with me. She was neurotic and nervous and extremely high-strung, but she was my friend. For a long while, when I was going through a rough patch, Kaffi was the reason I got out of bed because I knew she needed me to take care of her. Other pets came and went, but Kaffi was the constant in my life.

As it happens, Kaffi got old. The vets suspected she was around 4 when we found her. So that would make her 18 when I finally had to put her down. She was losing weight, had a hard time getting up and moving around, was losing her sight, and was overall not seeming happy. A vet friend came to the house and euthanised her right there in the living room while I held her. I was just happy I didn't have to stress her out taking her to the clinic, because she hated cars.

I still miss her. I miss the companionship of having an animal I loved so much. Don't get me wrong--I've loved all my pets since her, but I haven't had the same connection to any animal. I was happy to have them, devastated when I lost them, but there was still something missing.

Then this guy came along:

  
Cecil isn't a new pet; we've had him for over a year now, but as he was sleeping in my lap this morning it dawned on me that I think I finally have a pet I share that connection with again.