in memory

it's a sad day today. today, a dear cat, montreaux, otherwise known as monty, died today.

i met monty when he stuck his little gray and white head out of annette's coat on a chilly september night in 1994. i had met her and her friend, john, in downtown detroit for the montreaux detroit jazz fest, which they were working. monty had been found with some of his siblings on a loading dock. someone had thought they were expendable, being thrown out like so much trash. annette claimed the little gray and white one right away. she wanted to go back for more, but other people had taken them. the thing was annette couldn't keep him with her. she was staying in a hotel while she was working the fest and she needed someone to take him back to our new apartment. cara wasn't too thrilled, because she wasn't a big pet person and really, neither was i. cats had claws and they scared me. but we packed monty away in a open box with some newspapers and put him in the backseat of cara's rabbit.

me, being a dog person, thought that the cat would just stay in the box and go to sleep. monty had other ideas. soon, cara was yelling, "kim! get him off!" monty was climbing up the back of her car seat! hahah!! he was so tiny! but there he was, clammering to get into the front where all the action was. so i grabbed him and put him in my lap and pet him until he laid down. soon, he was asleep. it was the cutest thing in the whole world. and in that moment, i became a cat person.

monty had gone through a lot in his life. i think he had moved 7 times in his life. he's lived in 3 different states and with 2 or 3 different cats. he loved his food. if you left a bag of cat food out, you can bet that he would get into it, dragging it to the ground, and eating a hole in it if need be, to get into the sweet vittels inside. he was a troublemaker, especially when paired up with a certain black cat named loki. the two of them would get into the basement and into the crawl space and soon they spread fleas throughout the entire house. often, late at night, a thumping could be heard in the kitchen, fearing a break-in, we soon discovered that it was just the cats, dragging my huge rollerblades across the kitchen floor.

one time monty got out of the ann arbor apartment. because of me. and i was so upset with myself. annette was beside herself. i ran off in anger, after trying in vain to find him in the yard. i came back after a while to hear annette still calling out to him. then jennifer, a roommate, came out and said, "monty's inside! he had been at the door and i let him in." such a seinfeld moment.

when he moved to chicago, he was unfortunate enough to fall through a glass table. he cut up his leg really badly and was scarred inside a little as well. he was usually pretty friendly, but after that scare, he was eye people warily and hiss and swat at people who would walk past. it was pretty sad, yet funny, to have this 20 pound cat hiss, thwack at your leg then run away. he could really knock you over, too!

but i think he always remembered me from that first night. that night when annette saved his life and i took him home.

annette said he went quickly and, we hope, with a minimum of suffering. it is so sad to think about anything bad happening to monty, and for annette to have to experience it, totally helpless to help him. he was wonderful and funny and loving and loyal. we'll miss his big white paws and his idle mewling comments.

so, hug your pets extra lovingly tonight. give them some extra catnip or treats. buy them a new toy. they love you unconditionally. and we love them, in body and in spirit.