Bandit AKA 'The Sock Bandit'

THE CLAW

Bandit was hit by a car when he was about a year old.  Couple surgeries later, a pneumothorax, and lots of cage rest, he ended up with radial nerve damage and a great attitude.  Everyone recommended that I amputated his leg.  I thought it gave him character.  We decided to call it the claw, but it worked more like a hook.  He could catch birds with it, clean his face and tackle his other best buds in the household with it.  The claw made him who he was until the day he was send to be reunited with Stanley, Cloudy, Misty, Anabelle, Katie, and Capone.  He has left Bink, who was his best friend and right now it's so hard to watch Bink be sad and alone.

He was called Bandit because he would steal socks.  He would get into my Dad's sock drawer and then after I was married, Eli's sock drawer.  He would put socks randomly around the entire house.  The socks would have great big holes in them.  Rarely were you able to catch him in the act.  Sometime you could hear this crazy meow growl sound and see him walk around the corner with a sock in mouth like he just killed prey. 

He would nurse all my stray babies that I would bring home through the years, and there were ALOT.  He would clean them and keep them warm, watch over them and be a surrogate mother to them, except for the birds of course....  He was always in the mix.  Never cared what was new that was brought in the household and always wanted to pitch in and help. 

Bandit was 16 years old to the month.  He was my first baby!  He was with me through thick and thin....tech school, marriage, our first apartment, first house, children, jobs, and last but not least nursing school.  He was always around especially if you were happy, sick, injured, sad, or pregnant.  When my friends and I were all started to have children, we would call him the pregnancy test.  It was like he just knew.  He loved parties and loved attention.  When the girls were sick or sad he was there...ALWAYS.  After Eli and I told the girls that he passed, Erika was crying so hard she could barely speak and she spit out "he would be with me right now, trying to make me feel better, he can't be gone, he just can't".  And he would've been.  He would lick the tears away, cuddle up tight and just be there, no questions asked. It's was so hard to be the Mom in that moment and be strong so I could be there for her when I felt the same exact way.

There will NEVER be another pet in my life that could fill the hole of what he was to this family and to me.  You could have a conversation with him and he would answer you, he would even talk to himself on many occasions, usually in the middle of the night when everyone was sleeping.  He would wake us all up and you would hear all of us scream from our beds "BE QUIET BANDIT".  

 

His last Christmas with us

Seriously??  You woke me up for that????

Bandit always would study with me.  He was my study partner.  When he heard me get the books out, he was there.  He was there for my late night care map session.  He was there when I was stressed about a test.  Always laying on my papers.  Sometimes just to keep me company, sometimes for attention.  Be he was there.  The past couple of days have been so hard because I still think I see him because Boof looks so much like him and I just want to cry. 

There has been so much change in our lives this past week and this is one that I wish I could take away and just have a little more time.

Bandit will forever be in our hearts and is a part of many many memories that our family has made!