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Some people quietly roll their eyes at me. After all, she was just a cat. They told me to look on the bright side; I had another one. They offered to give me another to replace her. They didn't understand. She wasn't "just a cat." She was the child I wasn't able to have. She was the only friend who stayed with me no matter how bad things got. She was the first to love me unconditional and, in turn, taught me to love others that way. She was an amazing gift that I almost never had the chance to enjoy ...

Twelve years ago, I had been reluctantly dragged to a neighbor's to see their new litter of kittens. The neighbor was a breeder of Himalayan cats and was having a hard time selling off her latest batch. I was calculating how to make a quick getaway as she ushered me into the room where adorable kittens were bumbling about. Yup, they were cute with their fluffy tails and pouncing mischief ... and there was no way I was taking one home.

The runt of the litter took one look at me and let out an enormous, "Meow!" She ran across the room, tripping over the carpeting, and sat at my feet.

"And, who are you?" I asked.

*Wiccan* she replied.

"Oh?" I said. "Are you a magic kitty?"

*Yup!* She purred.

I laughed and picked her up. Her tail stretched to the tip of my fingers while her nose rested on to the heel of my palm. A perfect fit. Love at first sight? You bet.

Wiccan loved me unconditionally from the moment she saw me. With a force like that packaged in a teeny puff of fur, anything in the universe is possible. All that love and adoration in her big blue eyes ... her soft fur and tiny gray nose ... It nearly broke my heart to leave her behind. There was just no way I could possible scrape together $500 or ever justify spending that much money on a cat to my husband. Wiccan stayed behind and I went home sad and angry.

A week later, my husband presented me with an early Christmas present: Wiccan! He had worked a little hoo-doo of his own with the neighbor so that I could have my magic kitty. A few days later, a friend stopped in for a visit. "When's the last time you vacuumed under your sofa?" he teased. "Your dust bunnies are huge!" It was Wiccan playing under the sofa! "Bunny" immediately became her nickname.

Wiccan had special quirks that made her unique. She never learned how to cover up in the litter box, despite many efforts of several people and other cats to teach her. She could spend 20 minutes scratching at the wall ... the floor... the edge of the box ... but

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