Yesterday, my best buddy in the whole wide world passed away; my buddy Max:



Ten years ago, if someone told me I would be burying my best friend and that it would be a cat, I would have said they were crazy. But Max was a special spirit who taught me more about life than probably any human ever did. I am convinced that he was my wife's guardian angel. He was a very wise cat, and you couldn't help but love him.

He had a cyst that was discovered two years ago when he broke his leg. It had returned, and apparently grown since then, and was beginning to affect him. He wouldn't eat much, was losing weight, and had a hard time breathing. The only real options available to us were to let him suffer to death, put him down, or try to remove the cyst, surgically.

His blood work showed that he was quite healthy. Two years ago, they said his blood work looked like that of a seven-year-old cat. Not bad for a cat who was now 16. His blood work hadn't changed much since then, and the cyst was not cancerous, so it looked like surgery was the way to go. We were given a lot of hope (perhaps too much) - the doctor was very encouraging - but I'll never forget the look on Max's face as they carried him through the door as he looked back at me from within his carrier on his way to surgery. That was the last time I saw him alive.

The cyst was inoperable, as it turned out, and his recovery would have been miserable, so we made the decision to allow him to die on the table. That was the hardest phone call I ever took.

Today, we put his body into the ground in his final resting place, somewhere we think he would like. I can't believe how much it hurts to say goodbye.

We love you Max!