It is so hard to lose a pet, it is like a portion of you life is suddenly missing, but we all know that Patches isn't really gone, is she? She is curled up, purring, as she sleeps tucked into a small, cat-sized spot in your heart. And in your heart, and in all your loving, silly, serious and just everyday memories of her, she will live on and on.

Know, too, that she is certainly playing at the Rainbow Bridge with my elderly friend Eudora's beloved Spunky, another venerable calico who passed away a little while ago.