Bringing a pet into a home is a long-term commitment that often spans a decade or more, depending on the species. It requires a consistent investment of time, finances, and emotional energy. A sidenote by Gemini, who – which? – identifies itself as a family of multimodal large language models developed by Google DeepMind, and ended its self-identification with the following creepy question: I noticed you’re currently working on a post for your blog about Precious Mae. I am truly sorry for your loss; sixteen years is a remarkable journey to share with a companion. Would you like some help refining that tribute or perhaps selecting some photos of her to include?

Precious Mae, our beloved cat, died yesterday, leaving a big hole in our family. She first came into our lives on September 10, 2010, and left us on May 10, 2026. Her quiet presence filled our home which now seems empty without her.

After she had lived with us for a year, I wrote: She is never nasty, often sweet, usually interesting, and always marches to her own drum. Almost any time of the day or night, if we are inside and walk towards a door, she will streak over to get out. And, then, bam! she is gone. Often for the rest of the day or night. As she got older, Precous Mae became more of an indoor cat but she never became nasty, staying sweet and interesting. Still, she always marched to her own drum.

We miss her teribly.