The Williams Family and Andy Cat

This story, in rhyme, is about two very special, quirky, and loving felines, Andy and Spooky, who found their way to the Williams house years ago. Each was a stray that just showed up. The question of where they came from or who they belonged to, initially, was never answered. Andy came first and found himself having to share the house with a number of other cat friends and a surfeit of animals that lived in the Williams menagerie. When Spooky came on the scene it took several years for him to trust the Williams family, until he started shadowing Andy cat everywhere, and saw that Andy liked the Williams'. The day Spooky followed Andy right into the house, we knew he had been initiated into our family. Sometimes it was difficult to allow the five felines that lived with us to roam freely through the neighborhood and down the back hill to the creek where all kinds of raccoons, foxes, and birds of prey journeyed. But this is the autonomy that cats require, as they are free spirits to their core and seek adventure in everything they do. There were few incidents that made us worry about the hours that the cats were out exploring, until the evening Spooky disappeared (forever), and then Andy cat three weeks later. Untold hours of walking, driving, and searching desperately finally yielded only a few clues as to the disappearance of these precious cats. A coyote in the area was the suspected culprit. Searching is one thing. Reconciling the facts is another. Remembering is forever. All animals are special in their own right, but those that become our pets are rarely forgotten. And those that make their way into the center of our hearts leave a terrible void when they cross the rainbow bridge. Andy cat was such a guy. To think of Andy cat is a mix of painful longing to hold and kiss him, and also a joy in knowing that we were lucky enough to of had him in our lives.