Once there was a kitty, so tiny she fit in the pocket of Steve’s Jacket. She was a skittish kitten, and did not like to be touched. As she grew older, in her third house, she was an excellent poser for photos on window sills, by flower arrangements and potted plants. She was an expert hunter despite her size. As she grew older, though she was just six or seven pounds, she would make her presence known during poker games by stomping across the floor. Have you ever heard a kitty stomp?  Her nick name is Minni and she is now 16 years old. She is still a lovely girl, soft and tender, and has become incredibly more social in her old age.

One story, when she was young, and in our second house, out in the woods on Lost River Road in Mazama, Wa, it was winter. The snow was piling on the ground and on the roof of our log cabin. I was inside and heard an enormous thump. I stepped outside to find the snow piled on the deck. I heard the cries of my little Pho kitty, and spotted her about 20 yards up a fir tree, just clinging to the bare trunk, next to the deck. Somehow I talked her down the tree. She was frightened and crying, and since that day we have had a bond.

Pho came with a sister that we put down just over a year ago. Her sister Fiend (Both were named by a twelve year old who lived with us before he became a Foster child) was a special cat who would walk in circles and camp on my art. She seemed connected to another realm, and had terrible nerves. I loved Fiend with all of my heart. She always resembled my nature as Pho resembled Steve’s. We now have two younger cats Ka-ton and Ka-ti-ti. Both are beautiful cats and I fear the era of the tuxedo sisters is close to an end. But Pho is hanging on incredibly, she still goes outside to relieve herself, and has very few accidents. I don’t know how much longer we have together, and every moment is precious. She is beautiful like a stoic little wise woman/kitty, a small soft version of perfection. Sometimes I think it is amazing that she has been there at our side on this long journey of sixteen years, has seen so much of our life together, has lived in a total of nine houses, and has moved along to the rhythm of our lives, sitting wisely in the corner through all of it. She has cuddled in the covers, perched on the sofa, nested in many a random corners of the house, and has seen it all. I love you Pho kitty, you will always have a special place in my heart and you will never be forgotten, whatever your journey and to where it continues to we know not.