Friday, July 30, 2010

Best Cat Ever



We recently lost our beloved Cornish Rex cat, Rory. He was 16, and I was fortunate to have known him for 14 of those years. He was known at home as the BCE, the Best Cat Ever. Nobody who knew him would argue this.

Rory was a prize-winning show cat before he arrived in my life, but after he came to live with us, he was a therapy animal, surrogate dad to Nickel and Aggie, daredevil, fashion model (sporting pet apparel when I was designing at Target), gourmand and raconteur. He had a pretty huge life for a feline. There will be no filling the void he leaves. Even with rambunctious kitten Aggie in the house, it seems very quiet at home without him around.

Rory had a great personality, one that won over even ardent cat-haters. I can think of no better illustration of Rory's charm than his relationship with Jim. Jim is a resident of Hammer's Jersey house, home to four great guys with developmental disabilities. Rory and I visited Jersey for years, with Rory acting as a therapy animal. When we first started going to Jersey, Jim made it clear that he did not like cats and wanted nothing to do with Rory. "Those cats, they hiss, don't they? They bite!" he'd repeat. I assured him Rory would neither hiss nor bite - he never did. Rory formed fast relationships with the other residents at Jersey, especially with Bruce, who loved to have Rory snuggle in his lap while he read or listened to music. But it didn't take long for Rory to work his magic on Jim, and pretty soon Jim was saying "You know, I really like that cat!" Rory would sit with him on Jim's favorite chair. Jim would call him "buddy" and enjoyed how Rory would 'talk' to him in meows while he watched his favorite Westerns.

Here's Jim with Rory on one of his last visits to Jersey. Rory climbed up on Jim's chest and settled in. Jim, who is usually a very busy, restless guy, let him get comfortable, stroked him and talked to him, grinning the whole time.

I'll miss you, Ror. And I won't be the only one.

Best Cat Ever

We recently lost our beloved Cornish Rex cat, Rory. He was 16, and I was fortunate to have known him for 14 of those years. He was known at ...