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In Memory of My Beloved Cat Poupoune, Who Passed on January 1st, 2025
To anyone who understands that animals are family, too
It’s been a tough month, and I haven’t really felt like writing. Creativity feels fleeting these days — fading as soon as it sparks.
The holidays haven’t felt magical to me for years. A lot has changed, and Christmas has become a bittersweet reminder of things lost. But this year, the sadness feels sharper, heavier. On January 1st, we said goodbye to my beloved cat, Poupoune. She was 19 years and 8 months old. We had her since she was two months old.
To say she was family doesn’t feel like enough. She was my everything, as much as we were hers. Losing her has shattered my heart into pieces I’m not sure I’ll ever fully gather again.
I’m tearing up as I write this. I don’t expect everyone to understand. There are still people who believe that an animal is “just a pet,” worth less than a human and incapable of forming bonds as deep as those between people. But I disagree. In every way that matters, Poupoune was my family.
She was the first pet we ever had. I was 18 when she came into our lives, a tiny kitten with an even tinier tail. She was the last of her litter, the one no one wanted because her tail was short and partially amputated —…
