Our very dear almost 16 year old cat, Oliver died very early Sunday morning, August 6th. Only 8 pounds left of his healthier 16 pound weight. He had started to look like the kitten that we adopted from Chicago's Anti-Cruelty Society in August of 1991. Rich and I had only been together a few months when we got him, and Oliver only strengthened our small family bond. He remained our baby until 1993 when we adopted our second cat Zoe, then later our dogs, Izzy and Alice. He was always a little miffed that we kept adding to our family, but he enjoyed the daily annoyance of these other beloved pets. He was with us as we moved from Weed Street to Fulton, to Campbell to Oakley, each transition always traumatic for him. It's a blessing he left before the the move to Washtenaw as I think that probably would have put him over the edge. In his younger days he was an amazing jumper and he loved to chase shadows across the wall. In 2002 he made his press debut in the City Link Newspaper Newspaper. He was my witness and companion as I went from setting up an art studio in a tiny little closet to building my art business to what it is today. He would always come traipsing through my studio whenever I was trying to photograph a painting on the floor...the end of his tail often gracing the photos. It was getting pretty boring around here when Alice showed up as a 12 week old puppy in 2004. I think she probably prolonged his life, the two of them would spend hours engaging each other one at the top and the other at the bottom of the stairs - Alice yipping and every now and then a snarl or a hiss from the OL Man. He was an indoor cat but loved to go outside and eat grass...only to come in later and throw up....Izzy and Alice were always happy to take care of the mess! He had these amazing little tufts of fur on the tips of his ears and he loved to have them pulled. It is so hard to say goodbye, these creatures come into our lives and do nothing but love us, without emotional baggage, no memories of anger or hurt only love and companionship. Not that he didn’t have a feisty personality, he would sidle up to me to be pet only to bite me a few minutes later when he had enough ...then return 10 minutes later for another round. I guess we've had our final round, we will miss you dear boy...
