Obituary: Onyx and Midnight Corbin

The loss of two beautiful cats

As the year comes to an end I feel I must look back on the losses I have sustained. 

The first to my beautiful, loyal, and fairly old cat, Midnight.  We saved her and her sister as kittens from the local shelter.  From what I remember of those early years, her room was a plant room/greenhouse.  My sister and I would chase the two around as they hid behind plants.  I'm sure they were terrified. 

As we got older, Midnight blossomed into the alpha of the two sisters.  She was brave, sweet, and overall loving.  Her little tortoise shell coat was vibrant and soft.  Those bright greenish tinted yellow eyes were always fixed on something.  In her prime she hunted mice, voles, and squirrels, bringing many of their carcasses onto our doorstep.  Once she brought a few squirrels that had fallen out of their tree, babies that were alone.  They died, but Midnight had tried to save them. 

When I was ill or sad as a child I remember her always being there.  I'd be sitting on my bed or laying back watching tv when she would come and snuggle next to me.  She'd look up at me with those big eyes as if saying "It's okay, I'll help you get better."  Like any cat she had her little quirks and she didn't always stick around as long as I would like, but she was always there when I needed her. 

At the age of 17 she began to degrade, thin and bony, her once lustrous coat of fur matted and brittle.  We knew she would go soon and she suffered.  She barely ate, drank little, and began to deteriorate.  It was maddening to watch.

I got the call right before an exam.  Midnight was unable to keep anything down, it was time for her to end her suffering.  I held her paw when they put her to sleep, watched the doctor nod showing she was gone.  As I cried I thought of the good times and all the friends that had known her over the years.  If it wasn't for us, she would have died as a kitten.  We gave her a good, long, and healthy life.  She was loved and is still missed to this day.  Her sister still survives, comforted by Loki, the one year old I took in some time ago.  She died in the spring of 2012, but in my heart she will live forever.




Onyx Corbin died 12/17/12 in the evening, I had seen him just the day before...he was 3 months old.  A friend of mine took me to her hometown for her birthday.  Just outside of town she had agreed to take in a kitten and I immediately fell in love with the little black runt of the litter.  He had a spark in him even if he was so much smaller than the others.  I wanted to save him from the home he was living in.  I took him with me.  I still remember how I washed the fleas off of him, how he shivered and then rested in my arms because of their warmth.  He was always so full of life.

I knew I couldn't keep him, my already grown cat would eat him.  I tried to take him to a no kill shelter, but he was too small.  I cried, I wouldn't take him to the town shelter, not after owning kittens that might have been put to death.  So I took him to my grandmothers home.  He was safe there.  Over the weeks he got bigger, stronger, and I had high hopes for the little runt I had saved. 

He was sweet and playful like any kitten and I visited him every day I could.  He loved the attention.  It took us forever to find him a name everyone agreed on, but we finally agreed on Onyx.  I saw him sunday 12/16/12.  He was climbing up the christmas tree and getting into all sorts of mischief.  I got the news 12/18/12, he had died of what we suspect was a heart attack in his sleep.  He was buried in his favorite blanket underneath the holly tree. 

Being a runt, I realized, shortened his lifespan.  He had been born too late and had fought this long to stay alive.  Even though it was short, his life was wonderful.  My whole family loved him and the wounds are still fresh, but he will always be remembered as the little kitten I saw those months ago.  That little black fluff ball that I couldn't just leave to die.  As much as I wish he could have lived, there was nothing I could do. 


Both these beautiful cats will live on in my memories forever.  I loved them and that reality is enough.  Knowing I gave them a good life comforts me.  I just wanted others to know their story since they would never be able to share it.  Goodbye and I love you both Midnight and Onyx. 

Author's Note

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Reviews

[Kaitlin W. Blaylock]

So sorry, dear. This was a beautifully reflective elegaic piece.