IT'S BEEN A YEAR AND I STILL CANT BELIEVE IT.............

GOODBYE OLD BUDDY

JUNE 10, 2008. IT WAS A VERY SAD DAY FOR THE JIMITHEGREEK HOUSEHOLD. WE HAD TO SAY GOODBYE TO SPARKY; AKA BUDDY THE BEST CAT BUDDY EVER. I CANNOT EXPRESS HOW HARD IT WAS TO LET HIM GO. IT WAS ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT THINGS I HAVE EVER EXPERIENCED. AS I TOLD THE MRS, THE ONLY THING WORSE THAN LOSING HIM IS WATCHING AND LETTING HIM SUFFER NEEDLESSLY. HE WAS A GENTLE CREATURE WHO MADE OUR LIVES BETTER EVERY MOMENT HE WAS WITH US.

I KNOW MANY PEOPLE WILL SAY WELL HE WAS JUST A CAT, BUT LET ME TELL YOU OLD SPARKSTER WAS MUCH MORE. HE CAME IN TO OUR LIVES IN 1998 WHEN WE WERE LIVING IN SAN FRANCISCO. HE JUST KIND WALKED IN ( AND WE LIVED ON THE ROOFTOP APT!) AND MADE HIMSELF AT HOME. DESPITE THE MRS' HALF HEARTED INITIAL OBJECTIONS HE BECAME THE MAIN MAN IN THE HOUSE! THE MRS DOTED ON HIM LIKE NOBODY'S BIZNESS! WE LATER FOUND OUT THAT ONE OF OUR NEIGHBORS DOWNSTAIRS ORIGINALLY ADOPTED HIM ABOUT A YEAR OR TWO EARLIER. SPARKY KINDA GOT OUT OF THERE WHEN SHE ADOPTED A COUPLE OF ANNOYING DROOLING BOXERS. LIKE I SAID SPARKY WAS NO ORDINARY CAT , HE WAS ONE SMART DUDE, NO DOGS AT OUR HOUSE!

BUDDY TRAVELED QUITE EXTENSIVELY IN HIS SHORT TIME WITH US. HE WENT WITH US TO CHICAGO TO VISIT THE IN-LAWS. WHEN WE WERE FLYING BACK AND WE WERE ONE ONE OF THOSE HIDEOUSLY DELAYED FLIGHTS AND HAD TO LAND IN RENO BECAUSE OF THE WEATHER. YOU KNOW WHAT NOT A ONE COMPLAINT OUT OF HIM. HE MIGHT HAVE BEEN A BIT HUNGRY THOUGH. WE FINALLY GOT TO THE HOTEL 8 HOURS AFTER TAKE OFF. THE BELL HOP WAS KIND ENOUGH TO GET US A BOX WITH SOME DIRT IN IT AND A TURKEY SANDWICH AND BUDDY WAS GOOD TO GO. OF COURSE THE NEXT MORNING THE MRS AND FREAKED OUT WHEN WE COULD NOT FIND HIM!! AFTER A HECTIC SEARCH WE FOUND HIM PEACEFULLY SLEEPING IN ONE OF THE DRESSER DRAWERS THAT WE LEFT CRACKED OPEN. HE HAD THIS HABIT OF GETTING INTO STRANGE SPOTS FOR A GOOD NAP.

WE MOVED BACK TO NY IN 1999. WE SPENT ONE NIGHT AT MY FOLKS HOUSE WHERE SPARKY FOUND SOME WICKER BASKET AND TOOK A NAP WHICH MY MOM CALLED HIM DOING NONNY IN THE BASKET! THE NEXT DAY WE GOT INTO OUR HOUSE AND IT WAS ME THE MRS & SPARKY AND ALL WE HAD WAS THE BED ORDERED FROM 1800 DIAL A MATTRESS. BUDDY PROMPTLY TOOK A NAP ON THAT BED! SEE THIS PATTERN DEVELOPING? WE FINALLY GOT OUR FURNITURE AND STUFF FROM THE MOVERS A FEW DAYS LATER. I WAS AT WORK WHEN THE MRS PANICKED CAUSE OLD BUDDY HAD DISAPPEARED. WHEN I GOT HOME LATER HE HAD SOMEHOW CRAWLED INTO THE A/C DUCT IN THE LAUNDRY ROOM AND WAS HAVING A SNOOZE!

I CAN GO ON & ON ABOUT MY LITTLE BUDDY, BUT FOR ME ONE OF THE THINGS I WILL MISS THE MOST IS HIM ALWAYS GREETING ME AT THE DOOR ( ALMOST DOG LIKE) WHEN I GOT HOME : OLD RELIABLE. I WILL ALSO MISS HIM HANGING OUT WITH ME IN MY OFFICE WHEN I WAS WORKING AT HOME OR LATE AT NIGHT WHEN I COULD NOT SLEEP AND WAS BLOGGING OR RESEARCHING STUFF ON LINE. MOST OF ALL I WILL JUST MISS HIM. REST IN PEACE OLD BUDDY