Goodbye to our kittycat

Yes, this is a silly picture -- cat pictures generally are, aren't they?

This was Mandy in happier times. When this picture was taken she was lying in a ray of sunshine from the patio door . . . she had probably just eaten and given herself a good bath and was feeling just fine.

Mandy was my mother's cat -- the only cat we've had that we went and got, my mother got her from PAWS, the rescue society here. One of my mother's friends had seen her and thought my mother might like a cat and this one just seemed to be, as the friend said, 'I think that's your cat."

And so my mother went down and picked her up and brought her home, and sure enough, she was our cat.

She was our cat for nearly 18 years. Like all Siamese she had a whim of iron -- a strength of will that was as big as the world. All the more amazing from such a small cat.

She was always happy and healthy and was never sick until the very end -- this last month she got so thin, wouldn't eat, etc. The vet said she just wore out, she was just old.

And tonight, after a month of being tended to, it was finally over. I'm grateful she didn't suffer. I'm so glad she was able to close her eyes lying on the bed where she slept so many nights, warm and safe, in the company of people who loved her. May we all be so fortunate when our time comes.

Our pets are the children of our hearts and it is so hard to let go.

Love you, Mandy girl.