Diamond is her name, for the diamond shaped flash on her forehead. She was "my cat" in a round about way of speaking, for after all, cats own their people, not the other way around. My bride of almost 10 years got Diamond and her litter-mate Emerald in the early part of 1990. Norma loves cats, cat paraphernalia, pins, posters, stuffed toys, socks and vests with cats embroidered on them, et cetera, et cetera and et cetera!

Before we got married, I tried real hard to make friends with Diamond, tried, and failed because I forgot the first lesson of having a cat... the CAT determines the relationship, not the lowly human. Accepting that the cat was in charge, I gave up. One day, while putting food out for the cats, I walked by the refrigerator and noted a small icebox magnet that read "He said it was him or the cats! Gee, I miss him sometimes."

Norma and I got married, went on a glorious honeymoon and came home. We had earlier decided to let my daughter live in my house and I would move to Norma's house. On the first night home, I awoke about 1:30 AM with my feet wet. Diamond had peed on the bottom of the bed, on my side. Changed the bed coverings, put the comforter aside to have it cleaned and determined to ignore the greeting of this infuriating cat. Two nights later she did it again. Norma said as we got dressed for work the next morning - "We'll talk about this this evening." I said "No, now is the time." But the lady demurred and said this evening was soon enough.

All day long I worried about being "kicked out" 'cause I knew how much She liked those cats. That night, Norma looked at me and said "If you want, we can find a new home for Diamond." No way was I going to do that, not me, not no way, not no how! And I said so. And an uneasy truce ensued for the next 18 months. Diamond would meow at my feet or jump up on the couch beside me, I'd reach over to pet her and she'd scoot away. Each time, all the time.

One evening, while watching T.V. with Norma, Diamond jumped up on the couch and I absentmindedly reached over to pet her fully expecting her to scoot and, surprise, surprise she didn't. I petted her till she was done, then she walked away, purring, tail straight up in the air. She had conquered me fair and square.

A month later, I awoke with a start to find Diamond asleep on the bed beside my pillow, I reached over to pet her and she meow'ed loudly but didn't move. Over the next several years the routine became well established. As soon as I was in bed, up came Diamond. Until about a year ago when we got even closer.

Our main computer is in a cabinet in the breakfast room, and I would sit there doing notes, posting things on the blog, as I would sit there, Diamond would sometimes saunter by and give me the once over, but this time, she jumped up in my lap and demanded in that loud, harsh meow of hers to be petted. I complied because I knew who the boss was.

Then, about a month ago things started to change. Diamond didn't come up to the bedroom anymore, prefering to sleep on the arm of the leather couch. Finally, noticing a decrease in weight and energy, I took her to the vet. Renal failure was the diagnosis and he prescribed medications and a special renal diet. Diamond didn't get better though, this morning she was more listless than usual and I knew it was time.

I took her back to the vet, my heart breaking and informed him of what I wanted done what I knew had to be done though I hated doing it. Diamond breathed her last with me beside her, petting her and I know that she knew that I would be with her to the end. Goodbye girl, you will be missed a lot. Time will heal the pain, and I'll treasure every memory of the last 9 years with you.

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