Sad day

Today has been a sad day. I just finished burying Chaucer, our beloved cat. He died Wednesday night after a really quick illness. We're still not really sure what happened.

Chaucer was a fantastic cat, really one of a kind. He came into our lives when my wife and kids adopted him from a shelter. I wasn't around at the time, and was pretty annoyed when I found out. After all, we had enough pets!

After that, Chaucer worked his way into all of our hearts. He seemed to know that he had to work hardest on me, and would sit on my lap any chance he got, letting out the loudest purrs imaginable. No matter how many times I turned him away, he always persisted until he got his way.

I was concerned that he would be a problem. After all, he had not been de-clawed, so five out of his six ends were pointy! I didn't have to worry; he never hurt anyone, no matter how much our children annoyed him.

We laid him to rest under a tree in our back yard. It's a sunny spot, surrounded by flowers in the summer. As I piled dirt back on the old Amazon box we put him in, I noticed the slogan on the side. It read: "Small package - big smiles!"

Small package - big smiles. Nothing could have summed up Chaucer more perfectly.

Goodbye, Chaucer. We'll miss you.