Chessie: 1994-2012

It has been a rough week. This afternoon we had to put to sleep our cat, who was 18 1/2 years old. Though very old, she had been doing well. But time and old age started catching up with her this week.

Since I've been a huge train buff all my life, we named her Chesapeake for the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad, but called her Chessie, the name of the railroad's corporate mascot and later the name of the Chessie System railroad. We raised Chessie from a tiny kitten. Her mother died when Chessie was only two weeks old, so we had to feed her with a dropper.

Those who knew her, knew Chessie as a feisty little thing! Every time I sat down to paint my models, she had to jump up on the table to drink from the jar I used to rinse off my brushes. She would tiptoe through my miniatures to get to the jar. I can't tell you how many times she jumped up on the table to walk across whatever game we were playing--the attack of the giant cat! My son is taking the loss very hard, as are my wife and I. We knew this was going to be harder than when my father died last April or when our good friend and neighbor George died last June.

Anyway, I'll keep using that jar to rinse my paint brushes. But it will feel odd and lonely not having a cat trying to drink out of it.