Farewell to a Friend

This is a sad post. Yesterday, Mom and I had to put our cat, Reilly, to sleep. He'd developed a tumor on his side and had held on as long as he could. When his personality started to change and he no longer acted happy and comfortable, we knew it was time.

He was about 11 years old. I remember when I picked him out at the Humane Society in Waterloo. I was only about 20 years old, but you had to be 21 to adopt a pet. I remember calling my dad, who was still alive then, asking him if we could get him (I was living at home at the time while an undergraduate). As Dad often did for me, he said yes, and Reilly, the orange cat, came to live with us.

He was a loving, friendly, and playful cat. One of my happiest memories of him was when he was small. I would throw a Christmas bow down the hall at my parents' house and he would "fetch" and return it to me. We played like that often. It was fun to have a cat that played fetch. He loved to sit on laps and be cuddled and was overall just a wonderful cat. I felt guilty leaving him behind in Waterloo when I moved to IL.

I'll miss you, Reilly cat. I'll miss seeing you at Mom's house, miss how you liked to sit in the living room window and watch for people to come, and miss how you always waited until we let the dog out to be extra playful. You always knew to roll around on the floor as soon as the dog went outside because you'd get a good scratchin'. You were a wonderful pet and member of the family. I hope you are resting peacefully now. Know that you were very loved. Thank you for loving us back.