Very Sad Day

Einstein at 16

This is in memory of my cat Einstein, who passed away at 1:00 today aged 17.5.  This picture is from about a year ago, and you may notice it is the same as the one I use in my profile. I like it because it is very much the way he looked when he wanted something from you, and the something was generally food oriented. Einstein was a cat who loved his meals, and any treats or table scraps he could cadge were happily accepted. He didn't believe in running for anything, except meals. Actually, that proclivity was why I knew he was ready to go, he wouldn't eat kitty treats or deli roast beef, both of which he loved with all his heart.

Shortly after my daughter learned to walk, she started a chase game with Einstein. It ended when she caught up with him and tackled him. After she had him pinned, he would start meowing piteously. But I told him that he could walk faster than she could, and if he ran... So he got no sympathy from me there.

He loved to visit my Mother-in-law, as he could always, always convince her that he was absolutely starving to death, and no one loved him but her, which he just knew because she was going to feed him, right, and not just the pitiful amount that we gave him for meals either. She always asked if we ever fed him.

I remember when I got Einstein. We had just got the house, and were moved in and had most everything settled, and so I went to the local shelter to get a cat. Well, I filled out the survey form, gave them a check for the payment, and was told, "come back in a week to pick up your cat."

"But," I sputtered, "can't I take him home now? I have a harness and leash here, and we have food and a dish, and a litter pan and litter. We are all ready for him!"

They let me take him that day. I still think it was because I had gotten all the supplies needed for owning a cat before I went to get the cat. But I don't know for sure. Driving back with him, they put him in a cardboard carrier with round holes in it. They were big enough that Einstein could fit his leg out, so I got to see his long white legs and paws poke out the holes and wildly wave around. I finally let him out of the box, and the rest of the way home he circled from my lap, over my shoulders and down to my lap again.

He loved riding in cars. When my husband had his sedan, Einstein liked to sit in the back window on the ledge and watch what was going on. He also liked to sit in the driver's lap and rest his front paws on your arm while looking out the driver side window. He never sat on the passenger side that way.

We got a kitten when Einstein was about a year old. That was when we found out that he was a caretaker kitty. He would hold her down and wash her face for her, and at bedtime, he would curl up around her.

Anyway, I'll get back to stitching tomorrow, hopefully have something more to tell about the quilts I'm doing.

THE Magpie, sad because saying goodbye is no fun.