Maria Theresia, 1991-2008

MT died last night after a massive stroke that left her blind and paralyzed.  It started about 9:00 and by 11:30, Ken and I were home burying her in the back, by the rosebush.  We will plant more roses and hope to see that whole line along the back bloom in the future.

We got MT after we visited Matt in Vienna* in the spring of 1991.  She was to be 'company' for another cat, whose name I cannot recall.  We started with cats in 1982 with Cleo, who died on the operating table of the Ann Arbor Humane Society while being spayed.  We then had Dolly for a number of years, Sinbad and Binx for too few and Motley for too many.  We had Lewis and Clark in Delhi, but they did not make the trip to New Paltz.  They live in Michigan, formerly with Erica, and now with Brian, I think (hope).  They were lovely, but three cats was too much, especially as MT, always a spiky sort, was not lonely.

Midge's cat Daisy was put down last week and I heard that Candace's beloved Honey, the golden retriever, died quite unexpectedly recently.  

This is the end of the line for cats for us, although I could envision a time where life is less hectic and we will yearn for a creature to care for. 

* She was named for Maria Theresia of Austria, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Theresa_of_Austria