For Charlotte, from Jeff

A long, long time ago, I was single. And I lived on the lower floor of a big 2 bedroom apartment, one with nice wood floors. Alone. Now my life is filled with three people that I love more than anything, but back then my only thought was, "What am I doing with all this space when I live by myself?" I decided to get a pet.

A long, long time ago, there was a woman who had the nicest cat in the world. She loved this cat, but she had advanced Alzheimer's. The cat loved this woman, but also loved climbing out onto the sloping porch roof over the bedroom window, forcing the woman to put her walker out on the roof and try bring the cat back in. It was time for the cat to find a new home.

So that is how I got Charlotte. She was a big cat (16 lbs!) She was a lazy cat. Before Alecia came along to tell me how to keep house, I think there was a nest of grey hairs on the living room rug where Charlotte liked to lay. And most of all, Charlotte was a very, very nice cat. I remember how nervous I was when I found my other cat (Emily), outside my bedroom window. I thought there was no way Charlotte would accept another cat in the house. But she just went right on with her life. She played with Emily, pawed with Emily, and shared her food and litter box with Emily. When Alecia came along, Charlotte accepted her before anyone else. Charlotte was a good cat.

So I hope that we were as good for Charlotte as she was for us. I guess we were enablers, because she never got out of that habit of being a big lazy cat. But we tried to make sure that through all the changes (new wife, new house, new kids), that we still loved her. And we knew by her obnoxiously loud purrs that she felt the same way about us.

RIP, Charlotte. We miss you.