CATS OVER COFFEE/YUM YUM

FOURTH CUP OF COFFEE

"I guess it happens to all of us. But it sure doesn't make it any easier."

Sometimes daily happy routine and events go on so long you think it will always be that way.

But it never is.

Barring accident or disease you expect to see your feline friend every day lounging in the same places, lumped up in bed as usual, and waiting at the feed bowl for breakfast, brunch, lunch, and supper as usual.

You don't expect them not to show up at the usual times or to slow down.

You don't expect their fur to take on a tinge of gray.

You don't expect them to have incontinence problems in the middle of the day or night or on the dining room floor.

It happens to us.

So why not them.

And so it was with our beloved Yum Yum.

After eighteen years of perky joy and friendship she slowed down and then one day she died.

We often say someone has "passed away" but I don't really like the expression when it comes to close friends or family.

Our cats are family.

Some bonds go on forever.

Our memories make it this way.

Faded as they may become the truth is the memories will never pass away.

So it is with my wife and I and our memories of Yum Yum.