"You buy kitty, you buy sweater", the hawker said in that pet market in Southern China. You were alone in a cage and wearing a small sweater. You tugged on my heartstrings and so I wrapped you up, along with the ridiculous sweater, and took you home. That was the beginning of the adventure.



You died young, just shy of your second birthday and yet there are so many memories and stories to share. We had our ups and downs, but you were always by my side and patient with me. You were so small when I first got you, I couldn't bear to leave you at home, and so you often traveled in my bag, curious to see the world, with your little kitty harness. 



You always made me smile and even though your mantra at times was "Pet me, feed me, leave me alone"...at night, we always curled up together, just you and I. 



Oh, the escapades....whether it was smuggling you into a different country and barely escaping the chinese torcher chamber or sneaking you unwittingly into a high brow  members club for dinner, flying home to the states with you and even in a small cessna plane, you took it all in stride. Your unfailing trust and unconditional love taught me to be a better person.



I brought you back to start a new life with me, I wanted you with me as you were the last tangible proof of a life left behind. Your companionship was comforting and I looked forward to starting a new chapter, with you at my side. 



You were taken away from me so quickly and after our adventures together, for the end to be so brutal has left me alone and wishing I could tell you how much I loved you.. how much you meant to me, how I miss you at night, how I look for you at the door and how irreplaceable my love for you is...you have left a hole in my heart.



I love you Oliver....