Romeo

An email my dad sent me last week:

Hi Julie,

We are about to walk out the door and drive to Gina's. I had to lol at mother's list I found as to what to bring:

frozen cranberry salad
pie
frichik
Romeo

Oh well he will be on ice. So stay away from Bangkok and India, both don't look too happy lately.

Love,
Dad and Mom

Romeo is our dearly departed cat. He lived with our family for twenty years and when he died my sister wanted to give him a proper burial (they even made a slide show for him), so my parents kept him in the freezer until they were able to take him to my sister's house at Thanksgiving. Some may think my family mad, but if they knew Romeo--they wouldn't. He was such an amazing, loving, weird, wonderful, and delightful cat.

He was massive in his prime (20 lbs/9 kilos) and some nights when he fell asleep on my neck I would wake up choking because he was so heavy. My sister loved him so much that when she started dating her husband who had a cat allergy I asked her, "So will it be Romeo or Oscar?" She told me the question wasn't fair.

Romeo loved to follow us around the house. Whatever room we would move to he would eventually follow. He would watch my dad shave in the morning or he would just sit in the living room with us as we watched TV.

In his old age Romeo grew senile. Sometimes he would just sit for hours staring at nothing. He was also deaf. Despite his senility he was still loving. My last time I was home I spent many hours reading in bed and Romeo would curl up his bony old cat body beside me. I will miss him. I hope pets go to heaven.


"Good night, good night! parting is such sweet sorrow."

Romeo and Juliet Act 2, Scene 2