Saying goodbye to a friend...

It is with a heavy heart that I type these next words as I have laid to rest my 21 year old cat Archie.

Archie was a rescue cat. His original family did not want him after they had their first child. They feared that he would crush the life out of the infant so they up and sent him to the shelter at the age of 14. Nobody wanted a 14 year old cat but I took him because it was that or death.

He did not like me much and I really had second thought about him when we first met. His first family had named him a name that I cannot even recall at the moment, but I remember whenever I would call him by it, he would go to the back door and cry to "go home". The first few days at my house he took over my favorite lazy boy recliner and refused to let anybody near it, so I gave him a new name, Archie, after Archie Bunker who had a favorite seat.

As time went on we grew on each other and I spent many nights working away on my computer while Archie would sit on the back of the chair and try to sleep.

Once M came around, it was all over. Even though I saved him and claimed him...he was her cat! Period!

Anywhere in the house M went, Archie followed. Just like her little grey shadow. I don't think M has ever had a meal in our house without sharing most of it with him.

M could dress him up, put bows on his head, make him a "balloon animal"practically anything...he would let her do it. He loved just loved her so much.

Archie loved the holidays.He always hung out during Halloween parties, Birthdays, and Superbowl

 He was especially fond of  Christmas. The Christmas tree was his favorite place to take a nap and he was always first to poke his nose into an open present.

Archie also loved my mom, who would come over and visit him whenever I was out of the country, away on work, or on vacation.

She would bring him cheeseburgers or salmon and spend time just talking to him. She would have him so spoiled that it would take me days to get him back to his old cat food. His favorite food on earth was mom's roast beef...he would eat it till he could barely walk.

He loved to wear shirts and sweaters. I think they made him feel warm, especially in his later years when he shrank down to nothing but skin and bones.

He still played like a kitten right up till his last days.

In his last years he literally loved everybody. Even strangers. The cable man would come in and I would have to drag Archie out of his lap.

Archie was always ready to greet you at the door with a loud purr and a head butt.

I worried when we introduced M's cat, Lily, into the mix. Archie was used to being the king of the house.

They became the best of friends...I even think she kept him young and playful and helped him to live such a long life.

When the 2 unexpected bottle babies showed up...it was chaos, but they all learned to live together and,  in their own way, be a family and love each other.

I will never forget when we brought all the cats over to the new house, they all hid in the downstairs closet for over a week...all except Archie. He was so excited! He came in like he had always lived here! He was so happy...It was like he finally came home.

I know some would say, "he was just a pet"...but he was so much more than that. He was a part of our life, our family.

I talked to him more than I do most people I see every day! He was a fixture in everything we did and he will leave a huge void in our household....

Rest In Peace my dear friend...you were loved and will be missed terribly!