Meu Rei ("My King")

Nearly sixteen years of my life, almost half, I have spent with one dear soul nearby.  He was so tolerant - man, I am not easy to live with.  First moving in with me when I started college, his only task was to keep me company through the scary, yet exhilarating time of living on my own ... we were eating much cheaper food then.

At the local shelter near my Mom's house, I first had my eyes set on an orange long hair, but he ended up being a maniac and Kitty was just sitting there, so chill, taking it all in.  If you didn't fall for him at the sight of his royal coat, once you had this boy lounging in your arms, paws dangling, he was irresistible.  He was chill from the day he was born to the moment he left today, always an old soul and always purring with contentment.

I like that he is a Maine Coon ... the breed in years past found on the docks of fishing piers in New England, eating at the random fish bits they could find with - what I always envision as - bits of ice hanging off their coats.  He was a fanatic of fish (well any meat really) and the thick coat of hair certainly would have kept him quite warm despite being cold and wet.  In London he even seemed to enjoy sitting on the wet stone in the garden in the drizzle.

For certain I will miss my dear friend deeply and always be so appreciative of how we cuddled with me in the morning and took my stress away, sat just far enough away when I needed space, waited patiently for my return from my sometimes long trips away, and came out to delight my guests with his beauty and might.  King Kitty. Nothing but naps in the warm sun, chasing birds, and sushi for you now.