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Our big orange cat Cletus fell ill in October with what was most likely liver cancer. He held on for another two months, until finally, yesterday, December 9, he let me know that his suffering was too great. I took him to an emergency clinic, where I met Dr. Deeb, who was celebrating his 49th birthday. He was very loving and gentle with Cletus, whom I held like a baby until he had passed on. Before we were taken in, I had about half an hour alone with Cletus in the van. He purred constantly and meowed every time I stopped petting him. He gazed into my eyes… I don’t suppose that he knew what was about to happen, but I’m glad we had those last few minutes together.

Zoe has never dealt well with death… her experiences with it so far have been few and far between, but every time, it’s a devastating blow to her. Although Cletus was the most aloof of our cats, he was nevertheless one of our cats, and Zoe is just not dealing well with it. It’ll take some time.

I stopped by a store called Wanderlust, which was recommended by Julia of Mother Road Theatre, and found some jewelery for Zoe and me, commemorating Cletus. I got a ring with an amber stone, and a pendant with a topaz or citrine stone (nice orangey color, in either case). I love both of them, so I’ll have to leave the decision up to Zoe, as to who gets which item. And to top it off, Zoe got braces on her lower teeth today, and had her rubber bands on her braces all changed to orange in Cletus’s honor. Everyone in the orthodontist’s office extended their condolences to us, which was very kind, and very appreciated.