Mom has been sad this week. I know that a number of things will have her thinking about Dad. I tell her that I’ll always listen if she wants to talk. I’m also ready to snuggle close when the tears come. Miko and I watch the pictures of him that sometimes show on her TV when she leaves the room. I like to reach out to pat his face. I long ago learned that the pictures are part of what she calls a screen saver. I don’t know what that means, but oddly, they make her smile rather than cry. I told Miko that they must bring back good memories. That makes me happy for her. She needs that.

Her sadness this week is for more than Dad. Her favorite OC (Outside Cat) passed away this last week. He would cross our street daily as he made his rounds between our house, his old home and the Cat Lady who lives on the other side of the street. Mom and the Cat Lady had been afraid that the OC’s might be hit by a car. It happened to him. Missy was the first to notice that he was gone. He always liked to rub against Missy when she and Mom would go for a walk in the backyard. I know this is why Mom has decided that Missy must be on a leash when they go out. Missy also likes to dash across that street to the Cat Lady’s house in the hopes of finding cat food that had been left out. For now, the other OC’s have been staying on the other side of the street. Mom is concerned that they will be back to crossing once the weather warms. They like to take naps on our front porch. I may growl at them when I see them, but like Mom, I don’t want to see them hurt. Life is hard enough for an OC. I’m very lucky to have regular meals and a warm home. Because Mom and Dad took me in when I arrived in the back yard, I have not had to live my life as an OC