I think the kitty came to visit me.

It has been 3 weeks since Maggie passed away. The first two weeks were very difficult. I've just been able to get back up on my feet and try to continue on with my life, accepting the reality of what's happened. But, through this, I've always kept her in my mind. Praying, and hoping, that if she could see me, she would know how much I truly cared for her, and how I thought of her as an angel.

This morning I woke up at around 10am and felt a cat cuddled up next to me in bed. I figured it was Panther (my black cat), because sometimes he sneaks in when mom opens the door and he's always being cuddly. It was clear as day.... I could hear little breathing, I could hear the subtle rustling of the blankets, and the tiny little cat feet pressing against me when the cat stretched. 

After some time, the cat got up and walked on my belly, and then walked up onto my chest. Panther has done that before; he'll watch me sleep and it's super cute, so I thought that was him just watching my face. I could hear him purring softly and feel the pressure of his paws on my chest. I didn't wanna open my eyes because I didn't want him to know I was awake. 

Then, he curled up and slept on my chest. And, I thought that was weird because Panther never does that. I thought, maybe this is Tiger (my gray tabby). Because, Tiger is a little silly, and he's attempted to sleep on my neck before. I started feeling really anxious and thought I should just go ahead and get up. So I slowly started moving my arm, and when I did, the cat noticed and immediately jumped up off of me. 

I distinctly felt and heard as the cat walked down to the edge of the bed, and jumped off. So I figured, alright, that's gotta be Tiger because he startles easily. And I fell back asleep since I was still tired.

I woke up again at noon. After breakfast, I went outside and all three of my cats were out there.. I asked my parents and they said no, the cats have not come in at all today. I told them what happened and my dad said that maybe it was Maggie. 

He told me that when he was around my age, one of his cats passed away and pretty much the exact same thing happened to him. He said he heard and felt his cat jump onto the bed, purr, stare into his face, and then promptly leap away as soon as he moved.

Curiously, I went online to read about this and found several stories of this exact same phenomenon happening to people whose pets had just recently passed away. In the past, I've always dreamed of pets after they passed on, but I've never had an encounter like this while I was awake.

Of course I don't really know for certain if that was her.. But it was a really weird thing to happen. Part of me truly wants to believe it was her. I had been hoping all this time, that she was watching us from above. That she could see the pain I was in, and how I really did love her and tried to do the best for her even with my dad shooing her away at every opportunity. 

She was in so much pain. She suffered so much. A beautiful little soul like hers deserves this freedom. I'm glad that she can go into the light now. I'm confident that she's been visiting my cats, I know that my cats grieved and likely still are grieving. But Maggie lives in our hearts regardless. 

She was a little role model for me. Her persistence, her resilience, her adamancy. I've never met someone as fiercely dedicated as her. She fought with all she could to live the best life she could, in the face of every hardship and roadblock. She never gave up, even to the very end. She died at home. 

She is forever in peace now.