K.I.A.

We lost a dear family member this past week. Cooper. The cat. Cooper was a good cat. We inherited him when he was eight, when we moved into Tiffany Wardman's house on Gothic Ave. He was the most affectionate and gentile cat I have ever known. He was raised in a house with dogs, so he could stand up for himself when things got heated and he also had a broader world-view as he no doubt thought he was part dog.

Sometimes he needed to be proded to say hello in his hickup-style greeting, but more often than not he would just say it on his own. He liked to be wherever Katie and I were. If we were in the yard, he would find a good patch of yard to stretch and roll on his back. When we pulled in the driveway he would run to greet us. His ability to find the best sunbeam in the house for a nap or the warmest nook between Katie and I in the bed was second to none.

Cooper was tough. I've seen him neautralize many dog threats with his never-back-down approach to combat. When Katie and I moved to Riverbend, Cooper just could not let go of the old neighborhood and continued to run back there - about two miles away. He did this no fewer than 20 times. On one adventure we picked him up with a pellet in his back. Somebody shot him! But he was tough and that didn't even phase him. After the first winter in Riverbend he had warmed up to the place and found good hunting in the surrounding fields. When we moved from Riverbend to Skyland - across the Slate River, we worried he would start running away again, but he fell right into the groove of the new neighborhood. He had a couple late nights that lasted into the following evening, but he would come stumbling in and get straight to the crunchy brown food he loved so much.

Slimey piles of entrails and little rodent heads would greet us almost every day here in Skyland. Cooper had found fertile hunting grounds and was eager to share his bounty. Gross, but thoughtful. Cooper was a good cat.

He dissappeared last week and his remains were spotted this week. He was taken out by either a very crafty dog or coyotes. I don't want to dwell too much on that. He was a great cat. Good company. Katie and I miss having his greeting, soft fur, and Bill the Cat-style poise. We love you, Coop, and hope you find good hunting wherever you are now.