Elliot Gee Tells The Story Of Her Own Passing

When most pets die, they really don’t get any type of special markings for their grave.

I Am Special

But I am not only a cat, I am a Cornish Rex – that makes me special.

But since I am special, I have a whole tree. A special tree – the Rod and Linda tree. The tree received that name because at the top it has two separate, intertwined trees, but they come together to form a single tree base.

I am the first one to be buried at the base of this tree.

How I Selected My Humans

Let me share a little bit about my life with you, because I know you want to know.

In 1999, Kenzie and Linda were at one of their frequent cat show visitations. That day I saw many people, but they just weren’t worthy of having me, so I ignored them. But when Kenzie and Linda came by I let them know that I approved of them by letting out one of my favorite meow sounds. Loud enough to be noticed, a bit helpless sounding to bring out their maternal instincts, and just short of obnoxious. I really took advantage of Kenzie because she was so young and loved animals. I gave her my doe-eyed look and had her pick me up. I immediately went into purr mode and started nibbling on her neck. I knew I would have to work extra hard because Rod had already said, before Kenzie and Linda went to the cat show, “We have too many cats.” I was determined to become part of the family.

It really was unfair, because I manipulated young Kenzie into begging to take me home. After winning Kenzie over, I went to Linda and made sure I won her over too. At first she wasn’t sure, but one look into my big blue eyes and Linda could not resist my allure.

I Am An ‘Elemental’

I knew I was an ‘elemental’ but I was still young and coming into the full power of my spirit. I had a chance to grow into my being with my humans.

I spent most of my days sleeping on a bed, grabbing a bite to eat, sleeping in a sun warmed beam from the California sun, getting extra pets, sleeping on the couch, making loud meow sounds and then finally sleeping through the night.

I let Kenzie and Linda love me and in return for their affection and pets, I would let them hold me. When I was being held, I would love to rub my whiskers against their neck and then lick their ears.

I Get My Way

I was quite demanding in my food preferences. I liked my own separate plate just for my food, but I also wanted to be close enough to the plates for the other cats in the house so I could sample their food.

I came to enjoy cans of tuna in water. I would eat the tuna, then take the tuna liquid and lick the juice onto my fur. I know, I know that it sounds funny and that you may think it smelled awful, but I loved it. Kenzie and Linda didn’t know this, but part of the reason I would apply the tuna juice to my fur was so that I could get frequent baths. I would love having the warm water clean my skin, but most of all, I love that a bath would give me an opportunity to really open up my lungs with long, hopeless/helpless sounding meows. I know that if anyone heard it they would think it was the end of the world, but I just liked doing it because I could.
Because my humans fed me and were so nice to me, but really, because my fur was so short, I let Kenzie and Linda dress me up in silly looking sweaters.

I Have My Own Theme Song

As with other legends, I had my own song that I made Kenzie write for me. It went like this (Come on everybody! Sing along!):

Work-out GG
Yeah, yeah!
Work-out GG
Yeah, yeah!
Work-out GG
Yeah, yeah!
One foot GG
Yeah, yeah!
Two feet GG
Yeah, yeah!
One foot GG
Yeah, yeah!
Two feet GG
Yeah, yeah!

Yeah, I liked the song, but I didn’t like when Kenzie held my paws and made me dance to it…

Sleep Where I Want, When I Want

I soon learned that the best sleeping place at night was under the covers with either Kenzie or Linda. When Kenzie went off to college, I was OK with that because Linda was still home. I would simply jump up on the bed whenever I felt like it, usually about an hour after Linda fell asleep, meow until she woke up enough to grab me and place me between her legs where it was already warm. Of course once I got comfortable there I expected Linda not to move at all so I wouldn’t wake up.

Unlike the other cats in the house, I also had my special sleeping quarters. I had a cat hut, just for me. But, because I was a special cat, the hut had an electric heating pad that was always on, whether a 90 degree California day or a cold 60 degree California night. This way I could stay warm until it was time to get under the covers with one of my humans.

I had a lot of hobbies and interests. Most of them centered upon trying to make everyone demonstrate how much they loved me, so I frequently would jail-break from the house through the garage door, through a left open main door, or simply jump from the second story deck down to the spa cover. Rod always had a few choice names to call me (he called me Area 51 because he said I looked like an alien cat), but I feel that deep down, he still loved me. I loved how everyone would look for me then hold me and love me even more.

I Can Travel, But You Will Pay For It

I ultimately moved to Washington state. Of course the drive up was long and I let everyone know it for most of the trip.

Once is Washington I found a whole new assortment of smells including pine cones, squirrels and deer. I especially liked to take Linda out to the blackberry bushes when it was sunny. Of course I kept her on a leash so she couldn’t get away from me.

I Lived A Long Life

Most Cornish Rex cats only live 10+ years. But because I was very special, I lived to be over 15 years of age.

On the day I died, I did one last thing to remind my humans how special I was. Rod was walking out to the mailbox, next to my favorite blackberry bush, and just as he passed the blackberries, I let out one last meow. The kind of meow only I can do… sounding hopeless/helpless, needy and very loud. He turned and looked stunned. I saw him, but he didn’t see me (take that from Area 51!) as I already had passed – I am now fully ‘elemental.’

I now watch over my Washington home, and my humans, from the base of the Rod and Linda tree. I know that my other cat siblings will join me one day, as well as the ashes of my parents.

Until we are all back together, it is a great place to be as I am warm and comfortable and get to enjoy all the smells.

I Am Special

But, I may still have a few meows left, so listen for me – I am special.