There is an old joke about a cat on the roof that is about breaking bad news slowly and easily. In our case, the bad news is that Spike, our beloved cat, is dying. He showed up, uninvited, almost nine years ago to the day and stole our hearts.

The day after he showed up, Michele took him to the vet because he was pretty much blind. Our vet was on vacation and the substitute vet – because Spike was FIV (kitty AIDS) and going blind – suggested we euthanize him. When our regular vet got back, we went for a second opinion and she said That's a great cat, I'm not going to put him down. We liked that answer much better.

For the last nine years, Spike has been a huge presence in our life. Way out of proportion to his ten pounds. He has been a constant source of joy and love. He is now down to just under six pounds and shriveling and contracting before our eyes. He is still a love.