The things you miss being abroad, or, the entire post dedicated to my cat

Apparently when you aren't at "home" (whatever your home may be), things go on without you. I know, I know, it's hard to imagine. People grow up, get jobs, have babies, and have fun without you. Holidays come and go. Occasions pass you by. There are the benefits of being in an exotic foreign country living the dream, but some days the drawbacks seem insurmountable (not to be hyperbolic or anything...)

Frankly, this is one of those times where things are rough and the short six-hour plane ride seems like the world's biggest distance. I'm writing this right after receiving the news so I'm admittedly a little raw, but it's my blog and I'll cry if I want to.

Right now, it's the day before Thanksgiving. I've been mulling over the past few days about how I felt missing this quintessential American holiday. At first I wasn't too bothered: I'm not the biggest fan of Thanksgiving food in general (I'm crazy, get over it). It's also just not really a huge deal in my family. Typically it just means we eat a fancier dinner early in the day and then don't know what to do with ourselves for the next 6 hours before bedtime.

I started to realize what I was missing and the sadness crept in. Many of my best friends from home gather back for the holidays; pies galore; and most importantly, a FOUR DAY WEEKEND! (although soon enough I'll have nothing but weekends).

A little while ago, I decided to give my dad a surprise phone call to wish him a happy birthday but mostly to ask him a question about my tax returns. We exchanged pleasantries and talked about their trip to England in two weeks when he said the dreaded words: "So, we wanted to talk about this over Skype, but I have some pretty terrible news and I think I just need to tell you."

Stomach drops.

The long and the short of it is that my wonderful cat has passed on. I may seem to be overdramatizing this, but I really don't care because frankly it's devastating. She is literally the best cat in the world (all the other cats took a vote and decided). I've had her for the last 15 years of my life and delight in everything about her. I even have a special way I call to her: *very high pitched voice* AAAANNNIIEEE! (It's attractive, I know).

You know her too, because she's been the star of my blog many a time:

Go ahead and call me a crazy cat lady; I frankly like her better than 95% of my friends. And today is a hard day because today is the day she is no longer in my life... and I'm not there. I told my dad as we cried together that it kills me because literally any Thanksgiving weekend, I would have been at home. Heck, if I were in the U.S. I would get back to Virginia, stat. But I don't have that luxury.  It's a crappy place to be in, and I know I'm not alone.

So this might not be the most cheerful of posts and I might not have a snappy resolution. What I can say is that I'm happy that she is out of the immense pain she has been in, and she is able to frolic around with all of our former pets and my friend's former pets and play with as many toy mice as she wants (her favorite). All I'm asking you is to give your own pet an extra snuggle for me today, and raise a leftover turkey leg in her memory.