Goodbye Boston

Boston the Cat (pictured with Bruce the Person)

July 1 1988-June 7 2006

Boston had been abused before my ex husband Bruce and I acquired her. When we divorced (amicably) in 1994, we agreed on "joint custody" of the pets, as well as the son. Boston lived with Bruce most of the time because she was kind of skittish and felt threatened by the other animals, so she had a bad habit of marking her territory everywhere. However in spite of her general "loner" status, she did care for the late TNT who was dying of leukemia.

Boston was super healthy until recently when her kidneys started failing. She lost a lot of weight in the course of the month. Bruce said she'd stopped eating and was hiding a lot. She used to sit contentedly for hours on the afghan in front of his computer while he worked because the computer put out heat. Recently she would sit for perhaps 15 minutes, then give what he described as an unhappy meow and walk off to hide. An animal that is hiding is usually sick.

Bruce was right with Boston at her last moment, which was as it should be. She adored him, and he was perhaps the only being that she really felt that way about. She was all right with Michael (our son) and me, but she never had the level of trust. I was in the room but I couldn't be that close to what was going on. I put my hands over my eyes and saw darkness with little points of light like a field of stars. And this tough old curmudgeon cried.

Afterwards I felt like a dishrag that had been wrung out. Boston's death marks the end of an era. P.E., who is 14 years old, is the only cat that Bruce and I adopted together who remains alive, and really he's more Michael's cat, although I'm the one that he pesters for People Food. This is not regretting a marriage that didn't work, because Bruce and I are far better friends than we were spouses. It's just that sort of sadness you get when you realize the finality of things.

Boston was a testimony to devotion and a bit of an eccentric. She was intelligent and amazed people with her stalwart health and longevity. She will be missed.

The Cheesemeister and Family

(Human and Animal)