It was an unassuming and brisk morning in September of 2022, two college students had the morning to themselves without classes and decided to visit the cat café as they had numerous times before. Little did they know, this time would be different. This time, they would leave with their minds and hearts set on a pair of brown tiger tabby kittens and one in particular had, in the span of half an hour, claimed them as his own. He crawled into their laps, kneading on their sweatshirts. His purr soft and his eyes crusty. Each time they moved he would follow, begging to be brought home. His pleas worked and even after they learned he was a package deal, the two college students couldn’t help but rush home to put in an application to bring him home. Two weeks later, the two little kittens would be crying in the back of the Ford Escape, apprehensive to where they were going. But within a day of getting home, the two would be running around the house, having claimed it as their own and overnight, filled it with vibrant life. Their names were Greg and Wirt. They would run back and forth chasing each other, cry at the crack of dawn for their breakfast, and crawl in to bed to cuddle with the people they called their own. The kitten who prompted this change, Greg, grew to become a soft and strong presence, quiet in voice but well attuned to his people. A perfect compliment to his brother, Wirt, who was a needy and demanding presence. They both weaseled their way into their human’s hearts. Greg formed an especially strong bond with his human mom, whom he would spend nights cuddled up with and days following back and forth across the house anytime she was home. While his human dad wasn’t his favorite person in the world (that was reserved for mom, of course), dad was good for late-night cuddles when mom was asleep and was a great supplier of his favorite sleeping spot- wet towels. For two years, Greg and Wirt would enjoy their youth, running and playing and loving with all their hearts. Then one morning, a seemingly fairly typical morning, everything changed. Greg didn’t stir from bed with his human mom when she woke up and when she woke him he didn’t seem right. He was clearly uncomfortable and in some sort of pain, uninterested in anything around him. His humans rushed him to the vet immediately, but unfortunately it was too late. For how long Greg suffered, his human parents will never know, but it was determined that Greg had been hiding a heart infection for some time, long enough that he developed rapidly advancing infections in other areas of his body. By the time the vets were able to put him on antibiotics, he had less than a day to live. In his final moments, his parents, wrought with grief and heartache, promised Greg that they would take care of his brother Wirt in his absence and one day bring home the sister, Beatrice, whom they had always talked about. Then the office was silent, save for the pained sobs of Greg’s heartbroken parents.

Greg was a phenomenal cat, who at times knew me better than I knew myself. Within days of bringing him home, I was already saying that I had no idea what I would do when we lost him. That time came far sooner than I had ever imagined and I feel so lost without him. The house feels empty without his presence, and even though a sense of normalcy has returned, there isn’t a day that has gone by where my heart hasn’t ached when waking up without him at my feet, placing down only one bowl during meal-time, or laying on the couch without him curling up on my chest. He was the softest, sweetest, most expressive cat I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting and I will carry his love with me through the rest of my life. Rest Peacefully, Gregory, I love you more than anything.