For those of you who don’t know, we had to leave behind our cat Gracie when we moved to London. She went to live with my Mom in Florida, where she immediately laid claim to a pile of pillows and my Mom’s lap. She’s been worming herself into my Mom’s heart since then.

Gracie hadn’t been in the best of health before we left (which was partly why we had to leave her behind). She used to be a 22 lb. Diva of a cat and was a measley 11 lbs. when we left. The vets weren’t sure what was wrong with her exactly, since her bloodwork always checked out. To make a long story short, I’d been talking back and forth with my mom and sister this week and it wasn’t sounding good for Gracie. She was no longer able to jump up on chairs and was having other issues. Yesterday she had her final vet appointment and a diagnosis of cancer. They put her to sleep yesterday.

Having lived through it with my cat Harley a few years ago, I expected the news. But it still makes me very sad. I will miss her. She was a good, true cat. At least she’s no longer in pain and I imagine her, somewhere, chasing dust mice and eating lots of treats with her own special pile of pillows.

At least she’ll live on in Cat Girl’s Day Off. The cat, Queenie, is based on her back in her former glory days.

Gracie