Gollum

(1973 - 1979)

Gollum was my very first cat. Having an asthmatic father meant that pets as a child were limited to birds, mice and similarly non-allergenic beasts.

She came into my life handed to me out of a taxi window in the middle of Harvard Square, the runt of her litter, the last kitten to find a home.

Gollum was very tolerant of a newbie catperson, patiently teaching me the delights of having a cat in the home. Very intelligent; she was the cat who would rattle the doorknob on the bedroom door at night...if only she'd had a thumb, she'd have been unstoppable.

Arwen

(1975 - 1987)

Arwen was not graceful. As a kitten, she somehow managed to fracture a back leg, doubtless in one of her badly-conceived and poorly-executed jumps.

Arwen was not bright. She'd purr and look at you, her expression getting all soft with kitty pleasure, and somehow you just knew that the lights weren't all the way on inside that little head of hers.

Neither of these things mattered, because Arwen's calm and affectionate nature caused her to be a particular favorite for all of her life.

Galadriel

(1975 - 1986)

Galadriel was always a little overshadowed by her sister Arwen, being quieter and a little more of a "cat's cat" than a "people's cat". She preferred hanging out with her sister more often than with people.

The sisters occasionally would do the oddest thing: looking as though they were yoked together like a team of oxen, shoulder to shoulder, perfectly synchronized they would run together all through the house. Sweeping through doorways, across rooms, around corners...tails up, heads high, all eight little legs moving at exactly the same pace. It was one of those inscrutable kitty activities, I certainly never understood its meaning, but it was clear that they were very happy.

Seymour

(1977 - 1989)

Seymour had been living with a man who decided that she was a male based upon her aggressive personality rather than her physical equipment and who named her accordingly. She arrived at the apartment in a large cardboard box, from which a loud and rhythmic "THUMP...THUMP" sound emerged as she attempted to batter her way out. The resident cats, hearing the commotion, decided that discretion was wiser in this case than curiosity, and they crept as far away as they could from the noisy, evil box.

The top was opened, Seymour came flying out and ran into the bedroom, where she proceeded to go into full Halloween cat mode...back arched, tail bushed, leaping up and down over and over, hissing nonstop. She was two or three pounds worth of pure rage. Arwen casually sauntered into the room, sat herself down about two feet away, and watched this show without comment 'til Seymour had worn herself out. When she was thoroughly exhausted, Arwen stepped forward for an exploratory sniff, and everything was fine between the two of them from that moment on.

Seymour was particularly devoted to her human "mom", sleeping each night on the bed curled up next to mom's back. It was many years before her warm presence wasn't actively missed at night.

L B

(Fall 1980 - 6/17/93)

LB was born in a vacant lot next door to the apartment in Somerville, Mass. Terribly shy with strangers all his life, he was a very gentle, loving and docile boy with the people who loved him. Pick him up and he would melt in your arms in total submission. As evidenced by his slightly pudgy (er, "fluffy") physique, he appreciated his meals just a little too much, but would make no effort to protect his food from scavenging other cats in the house.

He was one of those "star" cats, one who somehow manages to burrow a little deeper into your heart than most others. He is still greatly missed, but now we can only smile broadly when we speak of him.

Pauley

(9/90 - 11/16/96)

Pauley was a very sweet, quiet and affectionate girl. In adulthood, she had a wonderful ability to completely ignore anything that might have otherwise disturbed her calm (particularly evident when Omar joined the household...Pauley seemed to not even SEE the new cat for the first several days).

She and her brother Norville usually went about their separate businesses for most of the day, but came together as a team at every mealtime. They would sit side by side, bodies basically immobile but heads swiveling in perfect unison towards the meal's designated can-opening human who was usually taking far more time at the task than the cats felt was acceptable.

Pauley did, however, have a terrible case of "Heavy Feet" (pat. pend.): she was a cat of normal weight and size, but, when walking on a person she felt like a twenty-pounder (at least). We never figured out what caused this phenomenon; it was quite painful, though. She loved to sit on laps but was incapable of sitting quietly in one position for very long; gradually she would creep closer and closer until her face would be scant inches away from the lap-owner's eyeballs, completely obstructing the view but purring so sweetly that it took a hard heart indeed to move her out of the way.

Omar

(? - July 12, 1998)

Posted to rec.pets.cats.community and mailed to many of his friends on 7/12/98:

He found our house one cold day in February, 1996 and, in the two years since, taught me so much about gentleness and good nature.

Omar died quietly this afternoon, in his OneTrueHome, a little after 2:00 PM EDT.

Thank you, sweet Omar, for finding us.

Goodbye, my gentle little friend.

Molly Samin

(? - August 11, 2004)

Our MollyMollyMolly (we always said her name at least three times in a row, as fast as possible, just because it was fun) was a stubby little fireplug of a kitty, slow, calm and deliberate. Her full story can be found on her original page.

We wanted so much to give her many years of being safe and loved; it turned out that there were only to be three of them. They were rich years, though, for all of us. She knew she'd won our hearts.

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