Roxanne

Yesterday goes down as one of the most difficult days of my life. My baby kitten of 17 years died around 3:30pm yesterday afternoon. Roxy - my spunky, somewhat grumpy tigress and I were together for 16 years - half my life. Although I know it was humane to put her out of her misery - she had a bad back and arthritis and was not cleaning herself anymore - I still can't get over the fact that she's no longer with us. Every time I come around the corner, I expect Roxy to be there. Every time I go into the kitchen, I hear her meow. Ben & I have a small shrine in the dining room - really an incense holder and some smooth rocks we've collected from our trips to Oregon and California. To honor Roxy, we placed a picture of her there this morning. We're not that religious, but I hope in some spiritual way it honors her and our tribute helps her into the next world. Ben wrote up a nice obit for her yesterday when I was too upset to call or write anyone who knew her:

At about 3:30 this afternoon Roxanne Cat passed away. She was ~17+ years old and is survived by a mother, father and a few odd stains. She was affectionately known as "The Cheet" (short for cheetah) because of her flesh from bone rending left hook. I first meet her on August 26, 2000 when I picked Susan up for our first date. All I saw was a flash of black and white making a beeline to the bedroom. Over the past six and half years I have spent a lot of time getting to know her and will miss her dearly; to say nothing of the loss that Susan will feel.

Ben

Needless to say, she will be sorely missed.