Lucy, as she was called, arrived in my life in late summer 1996 in Longmont Colorado. I had a small apartment and was in the process of leaving Colorado and  heading for Raleigh, North Carolina. The best thing I can say about Colorado was I was glad to  see it in my rear view mirror as I left. It was a very depressing time in my life for various reasons. A few weeks before I was ready to leave this  very small black cat appeared outside my apartment  door. She looked to be in good shape and I figured she had wandered away from her home  and someone would  be looking for her. Once I fed her, I had to go and buy some cat food as I didn’t have any in the apartment, she claimed me. Hell, I didn’t even know if the apartment complex ALLOWED cats. She was a very small cat and  pretty quite so I thought I could handle her until I found her owner.

I could not  find her owner. No one in the  complex would claim her and the results of my attempt  to place flyers up around the neighborhood yielded no results. My thinking was I had around 10 days to get rid of this cat. I had the  bright idea of taking her to  the  vet and give her to them to take  care of. No such deal! They checked  her out and informed me she had been very well taken care of but they were  not  a pet  adoption agency.

I’m getting ready to leave with everything I own in a 4 x 6 U-Haul and I don’t  have any plans to take her with me.

Lucy had other plans! After a few angry meows she settled  in for the trip to Raleigh. I tried, and mostly  succeeded, to find motels that would allow animals. One night I didn’t and left her  in the  room while  I went out for dinner. When I came  back she was between the  window and the  drapes in plain view of  the sign that said no pets allowed.

She later became the member of  our household that at one time  included 5  cats. Lucy was the smallest of them but didn’t  take  crap from any of  the boys. I was always impressed  with the way she walked. Like “You want a piece of me? Well bring  it on.” After 17 years with a cat they become  like  one of your children with their medical bills, different personalities, their attitudes  and habits.

Lucy’s health deteriorated over the last few years  and we had to have her put down yesterday. Today she  sits over  the fireplace in a Urn with her departed playmates.

Take care Lucy. We miss you already.