A memorial for Big, who joined the family with his twin brother Little on July 4, 1990.



They were six weeks old, and tiny. We didn't know what to name them. So we decided to wait a little while to see if their personalities would give us an idea for names.



We started calling them 'the bigger one' and the 'little one' because they were slightly different in size. And within a couple of days we shortened that to Big and Little, and while Michael gave them official names of Big Mac and Little Joe, they soon became just Big and Little.



Big was a good jumper when he was young. Whenever there were flowers on the refrigerator, he would jump from the floor to the top to check them out, eat a few leaves, and then throw them up. But he could jump straight up to the ceiling if he wanted to or down a whole flight of stairs in one bound.



Big was also a real talker. He talked to you if you looked at him, if you pet him, if you walked past him. He was very expressive. He had a meow that said 'hello', one that said 'I'm hungry' another that said 'don’t bother me' another that said 'don't take that blanket from under me' and another that said 'hey, I'd like a little attention please'. We always talked to Big, and he always talked back. He even meowed to Dad on the phone when Madeline held it up to his ear.



Big was a social cat. He liked people. Even total strangers. He wasn't a cat that would hide when people came over, but would come out to check out who was there and make sure they were able to enjoy his company. Usually, he would pester them until they gave him some attention.



Big was also a great mouser. When we moved to Mountain Spring Road, the cats were in their prime, and we had mice. It seemed like every night there was a mouse hunt...you could hear the cats running, a few mouse squeaks, and then in the morning, we'd find a mouse on the kitchen floor. One time, Big even scared a mouse to death. The mouse was hiding under a sofa, but couldn't escape, and we found the mouse frozen in his tracks under the couch a few days later.



He liked to watch Squirrels and Chipmunks on the deck. I'm sure he dreamed of breaking thru the door and running after them. He used to make a funny chattering noise when he saw them, almost like he was saying 'if I could get on the other side of this screen, boy would you be in trouble."



Big liked shrimp and salmon, and he always knew that when we were having either, he was going to get a little bit on a plate. Big also loved playing with ribbon, and especially loved birthdays and Christmas because there were lots of ribbons around then. The best thing was how he would jump up at the ribbon hanging down from a helium balloon that was on the ceiling. He also liked Easter because he loved to play with the fake grass you put in the Easter baskets.



Big also liked soft blankets. He was very particular about them and if the one he was on was on top of a pile of blankets, he'd complain and hiss if you tried to move him to get one of the other blankets.



The last few years Big slowed down. He stopped jumping. He didn't chase Little any more. He mostly liked to find a warm place in the sun and sleep, getting up only to eat, follow the sun around the house, and take a peek out the window. When we got Mini -- who looks just like Big and Little did as kittens -- Big let him know who was boss, but he didn't want to argue...he just wanted to relax.



So Big was a really great cat. We loved him and he loved us. He was the top cat, very friendly, and got petted a lot by a lot of people. He had a nice big house to roam around in, some mice to chase, nice warm people to sleep with and on, and his twin brother to play with. I'm sure Little misses him a lot already, and so do we.