The Life and Times of Surf Owen Boomer

On Tuesday, March 6, 2012, I lost one of my very best friends and beloved cat, Surf Owen Boomer.  I got Surf in June of 2003.  I moved to Jekyll Island to work at Summer Waves and they had me staying at a house in the wood that had lots of bugs, lizards, and frogs.  Being from Ohio, I was not used to all of these animals outside, let alone inside.  I had never had a cat before in my life, but I knew that cats killed these things, so it seemed like a good idea.  Someone at Summer Waves told me about this adorable kitten that someone dropped off at their vet's office.  I called and went to see if this kitten was a good fit for me.  I fell in love with this little kitten that the vet's office called Marley Bob.  They said he was so friendly and loved to be social and active with all of their patients and families.  I left the vet with my very first cat, Marley Bob.  The first thing I wanted to do was change my new pets name.  I thought about it and asked everyone I knew what they thought would be a good name for my new furry baby.  I wanted something beachy, since I was living at the beach.  I decided on the name Surf Owen Boomer.  The name Owen came from when I was in college, I had a cybercat named Owen and Boomer came from friend that wanted me to name Surf after the football player.  Surf was not a baby kitten, he was a little older, he was gray with darker gray strips, and had huge ears.  Since all of my family and friends were in Ohio, Surf and I became incredibly close.  He had such a crazy personality. He loved when I would hold him like a baby and he would head butt me and purr.  He would also love to lay across my shoulders and hang out, needless to say, I learned how to do a lot of things with a cat laying on my shoulders. I swear I didn't get a full nights sleep that entire first summer of our lives together because every time I would move in my bed, he would attack my feet.  It was one of his favorite games.  I may have gotten a little more sleep when my parents came and visited that summer, because he had way more feet to attack that week.  He was not like any other cat I had ever heard of.  Surf loved water, absolutely LOVED water!  I found this out one afternoon when I was taking a shower and I was rinsing the shampoo out of my hair and I feel this wet furry thing rubbing up against my legs.  My eyes were closed and of course I freak out thinking it was a raccoon, but to my relief and surprise it was Surf just hanging out in the shower with me.  After the end of the summer we moved out of what I called The Jungle House.  We then moved onto a small horse farm with a friend of mine.  He had a gray cat named Athena.  Surf and Athena became fast friends.

Surf and Athena Wrestling

  They loved running free around the farm together and play fighting.  To be honest, I'm surprised that Surf didn't die when we lived there because he used to swim in the marsh right next to our house, which had alligators in it.  I really thought he was going to get eaten at some point.  We then moved into an apartment by ourselves.  Surf liked the high cabinets that he could watch everything from.  He always loved being in the highest place he could climb to.  It must have been the Abyssinian in him.  It was a tough adjustment for Surf because he had to stay inside all of the time and he had to leave his friend Athena.  After about a week, I decided that he was so miserable without Athena that I needed to get another cat. I went to animal control and found a small, gray, Russian Blue kitten that looked almost exactly like Athena.  I brought Coral Blue home that afternoon and after a little adjustment, they became best of friends. 

I realized that I had over the years become a cat lover, but only gray cats! While living in our apartment, I had to spend almost a month wearing hats or wraps to bed because Surf would sleep on top of my head on my pillow and lick and chew my hair off around my forehead.  Needless to say bangs were not my best look, but I didn't really have a choice.  Our other issue with apartment living was Surf trying to escape to go play outside every single time the door opened, so to avoid him getting ran over in my apartment parking lot, I taught Surf how to walk on a leash.  The kids at my apartment loved playing with him when he was on his leash.  I then got a job in Jacksonville Beach and we had to move.  Let's just say neither cat was happy about the move, but Surf made it known he didn't like the move.  I thought he would never go back to the sweet loving cat I remembered, but eventually he did. Surf loved spending time on the screened in porch, he had tones of bugs to tract and eat all from the comfort of his porch. Everyone loved Surf because he was so social and had such a great personality.  While in Jacksonville, I had to have my second ankle surgery and my parents came down to help me out.  My mom ended up staying with us for 6 weeks.  During that time, Surf was my constant babysitter.  Every night when I went to bed with my feet prop up, Surf would sleep on my chest while I slept and when my mom would come in to check on me and give me my medicine, Surf would get up and go to the bathroom and get a drink and when my mom went back to bed, Surf would climb back up on my chest and keep an eye on me.

 He was so sweet.  My mom had a fun time dealing with Surf during this time as well, he could be kind of wild and stubborn, so they sometimes butted heads, but that was just Surf.  After my surgery, I started dating Chris and even though Chris goofs around and says Surf didn't like him because he swatted him in the eye, Surf really did like him.  To be honest if Surf swatted you in the eye, he loved you.  Just ask my mom and Ava.  We then moved from our scary San Pablo apartment to Ponte Vedra Beach.  The new apartment had the most room and Surf and Coral loved all of the room.  We only stayed there a few months before we moved back to Brunswick.  We moved in with Chris and his 2 cats, Emma and Pepper.  Talk about a tough adjustment, it took forever, but everyone settled in.  Surf and Coral were still the closest and were always together either playing or snuggled up sleeping. Surf loved all of the room we had in the new house and all of the high cabinets he could watch from.  Chris and Surf worked out their differences and Surf would even head butt Chris and sleep in his laundry that came straight out the dryer.  Chris always said my cats were too spoiled and you know what, they were, but I loved them so it didn't matter to me. Chris and I then adopted a yellow lab puppy named Shells.  Surf was so not a fan of Shells.  Surf didn't like the fast pace of Shells or being chased by her.  Surf  was not going to let this puppy run the house, that was Surf's job.  After a few swats, Surf had made it clear that he was the alpha male in this house.  The funniest thing ever was when Surf was in the kitchen and Shells wouldn't go through the kitchen without me walking with her, as a buffer, because she was afraid of Surf.  Our 50 lb dog was afraid of our 9 lb cat, who would have ever thought.  On February 14, 2012 I took Surf to the vet because he seemed like he wasn't feeling well.  I had no idea that they would tell me he had cancer and they thought he would only have a couple more days to live.  I was devastated, but spent the next 3 weeks making Surf's live as wonderful and comfortable as I could.  I also tried to prepare Coral as much as possible for her best friend to not always be there. Sadly Surf lost his fight with cancer.  Since I had moved here with no family or friends around, he became my family and friend.  We had been through the good and bad together.  No matter what would happen, he could always make me smile and feel better.  Though my family situation has changed over the years, he has and always will hold a very special part of my heart.  I will always have many funny and wonderful memories of one of the best cats I could have asked for.  Surf I will miss you and love you always.