About a year ago when I started working on the Pop Trek project, I had the uninvited assistance of my old orange tom cat, Buddy. Buddy was so enthusiastic for the project that ultimately I gave him the title of “Executive Producer Cat” which would have it’s own credit in the end titles, should I ever finish an episode.
This past Saturday, Buddy died. He was at least 20 years old, an extremely long life for any cat. And a lot of that life was not as pampered as the end of it was. Buddy was a stray taken in by a friend, and passed on to me as part of a pair when my friend could no longer keep them. The other passed a little less than a year after I got her, and in our mutual grief, Buddy and I formed a deep friendship, celebrated daily with shared bits of bacon and ice cream.
His health began to deteriorate around the beginning of last November. He had, on several occasions, seemed to be at the brink and come charging back, but this time it was not to be. I have never seen an animal try so hard to remain with his family. In the end, he passed peacefully away to join the family that preceded him. He fully lived all nine of his lives, and was deeply loved to the last.
Should I ever finish that episode, he’ll have that producer’s credit. In case I don’t get there, I’m posting it here.
