there are no ordinary cats

"I called my cat William because no shorter name fits the dignity of his character..."

(Josh Billings)

Unfortunately, the health of the Morgensen family has not been limited to myself. Today we lost our old man Willie, who hung in there with the best of them. Traditionally, you hear of cats and dogs "going away to die." But with house pets, it's a bit different- they still know when their time is up, but they are loyal to the very end, waiting patiently for US to be ready. What flattery, to be loved by an animal.

We have always been an animal family. It must be something you are born with, some innate ability to connect with animals on an emotional level, to find their company not only enjoyable but an extension of ourselves. I have to admit, Willie was... interesting. In fact, I remember frequently referring to him as "psycho-cat" from his tendancy to randomly attack your leg when you innocently walked by (having apparently invaded the boundaries of his personal space.) We adopted him from a local shelter because my aunt Nancy said he had "the look." We laugh about that quite often, wondering what exact "look" she might have seen that day. He had many looks, most commonly, a quaint snarl and hiss!

Each member of the family usually ends up taking to a particular pet (or two.) Mine was Tina, a tiny tabby who looks almost exactly like my current baby, Madeline. Their similarity is uncanny- you would only be able to tell the difference among photos b/c of the yellowed age of the photo paper itself. But Willie was probably most loved by my mother. I have never seen a woman love a cat so much that PERSISTENTLY hissed, bit, and pawed at her (in fact, more than any other member of the family.) I think she loved him MORE each time he behaved in such a manner. In addition, my brother Mike seemed to take to this guy more so than any of our previous cat; in fact, we used to joke that my brother and Willie were a perfect match in their bachelorhood.

On the way home from the vet this afternoon, both of us teary eyed, my mom said something that really struck me. She said "I've never believed in giving up on an animal... they're all different, some are mean, some are nice, some are simply there. But they're all yours in the end."

And it never gets easier to let them go.