We lost our pet cat, Tad, this week.

He was 14, and outlived my marriage (that’s a bet I would have lost).

He was always kind of a pain: he loved to try to trip you by walking between your legs, he was huge, always wanted to lay on your lap at the worst time, loved to go outside, roll in the dirt, and immediately come lay on furniture, and never figured out how to sit nearby without kneading with his sharp-as-razors claws.

Still, he was a fixture around the house. He was loving, handsome, always loyal.

He is dearly missed.

Photo of a black-and-white Tuxedo Cat.