Pumpkin was a stray cat. We had just arrived home from driving to Florida to get my mom after having a stroke. Pumpkin would hang out in our driveway. I have her chicken and tuna. She devoured it like she hadn’t eaten in a long time. This kind of feeding went on for month. We originally thought that Pumpkin was a boy. She was very skittish. She wouldn’t let us get too close. We would prop our screen door open so she could come and go as she liked. Slowly, she would get closer and would rub against our legs and let us pet her. We had to keep the door open all the time. One night she jumped up on the couch next to me, lay down, and let me pet her. After several weeks of doing this and the weather getting colder, I asked my husband if she could stay in the house that night. He said no. A while later, my husband fell asleep in the recliner. I woke him up and told him to go to bed. The minute his foot hit the hallway, I looked at Pumpkin and said, “Guess who’s staying in the house tonight?” She stayed on the couch all night. She stayed every night during the winter months. She would go outside during the daytime and come back in the evening. I took her to the vet and found out our Pumpkin was a girl. I had her chipped. She was now mine. I am allergic to animals. For the past 5 1/2 years, I have been taking an allergy pill every day just so I can be with my Pumpkin. She would come inside in the evening and jump up on my lap. If I was playing on my iPad, she would do anything she could so that I couldn’t see what I was playing on it. Sometimes she would lay so high on my chest, that it looked like I was wearing her for a scarf. The other day, she didn’t come home in the morning to eat. I called for her over and over. We were backing out of our driveway; I looked behind the bushes in the front yard where she lays sometimes. I thought I saw her legs, so I pulled forward to get a better look. Sure enough, I saw her legs. I got out of the car and walked over to where she was. I called her name and she didn’t move. As I got closer, I could see a bunch of ants on her eyes. I yelled for my husband. I tapped her with them foot, she was stiff. This was so upsetting. I thought my baby girl would be around forever. We miss her so much. I keep wanting to get up and see if she’s waiting at the back door. Or, if she’s laying in the garden. Pumpkin girl, rest in peace. Some day we will be together again. We love you and miss you so much.