Lucy

Mom always liked cats. We had a few of them when we lived on El Comal Drive in the 70's but they were indoor/outdoor cats and eventually they would disappear, probably taken by coyotes or who knows what. There was an orange cat at the house on Catamarca Drive close to when we first moved there in the early 80's but we think it drank the blue toilet water and it too passed away. Then one day a co-worker of mom's brought in some kittens that needed homes. I don't know if she talked to dad about it first as it had been almost 10 years since we had any pets but she came home with one. She was white with some black spots. Mom admitted the kitten was a little crazy so Maria though it would be appropriate to name her Lucy Ricardo.

Guy remembers Lucy laying on his law school books back in the early 90's. I remember her as not being very nice. She didn't like to be pet. She liked to hide under tables and chairs where you couldn't reach her. The only person she hung out with was mom. Sometimes I would catch Lucy sitting on a blanket at mom's feet while mom was reading a book in her bed. It was times like that when mom would plead that she was a nice cat.

Maybe Lucy wasn't nice because she would get tortured. Guy enjoyed staring at her while she was using her litter box and call us over to watch with him. Dad was in charge of trimming Lucy's nails so he would try to scruff her to do it and she would hiss and squirm with all her might. Eventually dad would get to all of the claws but then Lucy would scamper away, pissed at the world and anyone who tried to get close to her. She became a part of the family- the little girl the parents' never had. They bought her toys and treats. She always used her litter box and dad would clean it everyday when he got home from work. Sometimes you couldn't tell that there was a cat in the house since it was kept so clean. Lucy was mom's baby.

Soon after Gabriella was born they noticed that she would have an allergic reaction whenever she visited mom and dad's house. It was a no-brainer that Gabriella was allergic to cats which was unfortunate because Gabriella really likes animals. Lucy's days at Catamarca were numbered and soon mom would have to find her another home because taking her to the pound was not an option. Mom loved Lucy a lot, but she loved her grandchildren more. It pained her to have to give her baby away. During the 2003 Cedar Fire, Tierrasanta was under mandatory evacuation and mom decided not to take Lucy. She thought if Lucy survived then that would be great but if for some reason Lucy didn't make it then that would be a sign from God and things would be okay. When they came back to the house Lucy was fine. Mom finally found a co-worker who would agree to take Lucy and made plans to drop her off, happy that she was going to a good home.
Sometime later that summer, Jessica and I drove down to San Diego for one of our not so frequent visits from the Bay Area. We were living at Dave's house in Berkeley and he had nicely allowed us to have two cats, Tigar was Jessica's and Ashe was Dannah's. Shawnia was also allowed to stay with us briefly but that didn't last long when she tore up Dave's carpet during a thunderstorm. During the weekend, mom let us know of the plans for Lucy and you could tell that the family was sad. You could see that she was depressed to be letting Lucy go but she knew that it was for the best and would allow for her to see Joseph and Gabriella more. When it came time to drive back on Sunday, Jessica and I packed the car and while sitting in the driveway I said, "Why don't we take Lucy?" Apparently Jessica and I had been thinking the same thing all weekend and so we told my mom about the idea. She couldn't have been happier. Mom quickly gathered all of Lucy's things, from her litter box to her food and toys. We put Lucy in a cardboard box with a towel at the bottom and off we went. Lucy let us know that she didn't like the ride so much but she arrived in Berkeley safe and sound and it felt good knowing that we kept Lucy in the family.

We quickly found out that, in addition to people, Lucy didn't care for other cats so much. When we arrived at Dave's, she ran and hid under the futon in our bedroom and she started her trademark growl to let you know that she was not happy. It was her new home though and she learned to keep to herself and the other animals learned to let her be. When mom would call she would always ask, "How is Lucy?" and when mom and dad would come up to the Bay Area they would make a point to visit their little one. They missed her a lot but were so happy she was with us. Mom missed her so much that when she got a dog in the Philippines she lovingly named her Lucy as well.

When we moved to the Richmond House it was more of the same though there was more space and Lucy had the downstairs apartment all to herself. Asheton would occasionally peak his head through the cat door but Lucy was there to let me know where the boundaries were. She perfected the growl to where Jessica's sisters lovingly dubbed her Luc-i-fur. We we're all one big happy family- Jess and I, Shawnia the dog, Tigar, Ashe, and Lucy.

In the Spring of 2006 we all moved down to Pasadena. We were in an extended stay hotel for a few months which was hard to all be in one room but then we found the house on Montana and quickly settled right in. There was plenty of room. Soon everyone got used to it and Lucy got used to everyone for the most part. Occasionally there was a fight, usually late at night where someone would get scratched on the nose or an ear. All the cats ate in the kitchen and we had multiple litter boxes for when nature called on more than one cat at a time. It was animal house once again.

Maybe it was the San Gabriel Valley heat but Lucy-Loo really started to warm up to people. Sometimes she would sit with us on the couch while watching TV or even lay with us in bed as we went to sleep. She starting liking and asking for canned food which she hadn't before and even got in our face when we would bring home KFC or Taco Bell. She made friends with Malanda and Paula, two hip ladies from Berkeley who also made the trip down to Pasadena. Malanda even bought her a taco during one of their many babysitting weekends. Sometimes after swimming, Lucy would try to eat my hair that still smelled of chlorine. When it got cold she would lay on your stomach for heat. That was nice. For the winter we got a heater in the bedroom and Lucy loved to lay on her blanket next to it as we all fell asleep. Sometimes Little Fuzzy Butt, as Jess would call her, would lay with her face only a few inches from the heater's side, basking in the radiating warmth. Unfortunately at the same time, you could tell Lucy was losing weight. After a check up by the vet, it was diagnosed that she was having some internal organ issues. She wasn't in any visible pain but her slimming figure was hard to ignore and we knew that she was already in the bonus round. She never gained back her weight even when we adjusted her food but she also didn't complain. Especially when she was eating ice cream.

One winter night Lucy started having trouble. We tried to make her as comfortable as possible but we knew that it was serious. Early the next morning she passed away. I'm glad that the end came so fast and that she wasn't in pain for very long. She lived an extended remix life and is now back with mom. We'll miss you, Lucy.