Delonzo MJ

As many of you know, I have had the same cat since 6th grade. My mother has definitely taken care of Delonzo more than me, but he was always "my" cat. My dad claims to have hated the cats, but deep down, we know he actually did care for them at least a little (if you doubt this, you should hear the story about Tony and the pickup.) Unfortunately my mom called me this afternoon and said she found Delonzo under the hostas (sp?) this afternoon and he has gone to Kitty Cat Heaven. I had talked to her earlier around lunch and she made the comment that she hadn't seen him all day. I expected the worse because usually he didn't venture too far from the house, much less the screened-in porch. Oddly enough, when I was home in June Mom & I had a conversation about how old Delonzo has gotten and how much longer we thought he would live. He was 13 years old in people years, so I'm not sure if the cat/people conversion is the same as dogs (7 to 1), but if so that makes him 91. Pretty old for a cat if you ask me. Delonzo was never a people person cat. He would come out when we were around, but if company showed up, he was off to his hiding places. While at Doc Tucker's office he always hid behind the refridgerators and cabinets, while Tony would meet people at the front door. Mom said usually when she picked him up to pet him, he would let her do so for a bit and then jump down, but over the past week he has been really cuddly (is that a word?) and would just lay his head down on her shoulder when she would pet him. She did tell Emily and I that she is pretty sure he just crawled under the bushes and died, which made both of us feel better. It will be odd going home and not seeing him sitting on his recliner, but I know he had a great life and we have many stories to tell about him. How many cats do you know that had their own recliner and tv just so he would stay at the new house and quit venturing all the way across town to the old house? I wish I had a picture of him on this computer, but I don't. He was a beautiful cat...white hair with blue eyes (half calico/half siamese) and I will miss him dearly.

Just some background information, for those of you who are wondering where the name Delonzo MJ came from, when we received Delonzo we also got his brother, Captain Shaquille. Obviously basketball has been an important and influential part of our lives. Delonzo is Tim Marshall's middle name, MJ is short for Michael Jordan, Captain is David Robinson's nickname and obviously Shaq is Shaquille O'Neal. Yes, we realize we had two very white cats named after all black people, but I thought naming a cat Bird wasn't the best idea. We also had another cat, after Shaq passed away, Tony Matimbo...named after Tony Williams (Marshall boys' cousin) and once again Tim, Matimbo was his nickname.