What a difference a year makes

I have been missing my Gussie lately. It was this time last year that we learned Gus' tumor had returned and that his days were short. I was looking back at my blog from that time and read this post:
here

Gus left us in October, 6 months after he was diagnosed. It is strange to read that post now, knowing how it all ended. It went just as the vet told us it would go. It is impossible to believe he is gone. We have six other pets and I love all of them. I always joke that Gus divided up his responsibilities among the rest. The others have all taken over where Gus left off, almost as if it was planned so I wouldn't feel the void.

Norwyn (aka Tuna), took on most of the duties. He sleeps by my head, works out with me, greets me when I get out of the shower and sits in the sink. Gus always used to drink water from the sink. Tuna will be sitting in the sink looking at me like he has no idea why he is in the sink, as if to say "Gus told me to get in the sink and I don't know what I am supposed to do, but I am in the sink".

Daisy sleeps between me and Trevor, just enough to make things uncomfortable and sometimes disturb our sleep...Gus liked to do that.

Roxie (aka Baby), well, she is a baby and so she has no responsibilities!

Opal is the oldest and sickest. I think Gus told Opal to take over with the vet bills. Since Gus passed, Opal has become the medicine queen. She takes a lot of pills every day for all kinds of issues, that was always Gus' thing. Now its Opal's.

Maggie, well, her job is play with everyone. She chases all the others and always just wants to play. Gus would like that.

Buster has the most important job. I believe that Gus told him that I would need a best friend. Buster has taken over that job, he is always happy to see me. He runs to greet me - Gus always did that. When he saw me, he would run to me. Buster does the same thing.

There are a lot of things that make me think of Gus, every day, every where. The others do a good job of filling the void so it isn't so deafening. But I sure do miss that sweet kitty. He was such a part of our lives and it hurts to know that he is gone. In my blog post from last year I said that we were going to take one day at a time and were going to work hard to remember everything we could. I know I did that, especially those last few months, I remember just about every minute I spent with Gus. I remember how he looked, how he felt, how he smelled. I hope I remember that forever. And I hope he is laying in the sun right now, sighing with contentment. I miss you Gussie....