My parents and I moved to a new house. We finally left that tiny tiny house that had no windows to the outside and moved to a new one on a second floor.
I never had a room of my own and I was so damn excited because finally, with 12 years old, almost 13 I was going to have my own room. We even had a backyard. Imagine a backyard on a 2nd floor.
A couple of days before we moved I noticed a key chain moving outside in the backyard. I found that strange and decided to investigate. And I saw a small paw. There was this cute tiny cat playing with the keychain.
I've approached the cat, called and the cat didn't run away from me.

We never took her liberty away. She always loved to go visit other backyards, sleep outside, hunt, fight. She returned every single day. She didn't like to have her belly scratched but she loved to have her head and ears scratched.

23 years later, her nose was still the same... cute as a button. She still didn't like the have her belly scratched. She still loved to have her head and ears scratched.
She died with dignity and she didn't have to suffer until the end. She will be buried in the backyard where she lived her entire life.

Now I need to change my ritual. I can no longer call her and pet her whenever I'm at my parent's house. She will be missed.