Crochet Me Crazy

We buried out beloved cat today. He had not shown up since we got back from our trip. I was hoping nothing had happened to him but it was unusual for him not to be around. He usually stuck around the house. We have a neighbor that takes good care of him while we are gone. I found him today behind the bushes in our front flower bed. It looked like he layed down and died back there. I feel so bad that we weren't here when he died. Alison and Michael both cried. Alison was very, very upset. I have never been much of a "cat person" but this cat was an exception. He was a stray born in our yard about 8 years ago in our first house. He was so wild at first that he went into shock the first time we picked him up. He ended up being the most faithful cat, though. We took him with us to the apartment we lived in temporarily and then we moved to this house where we have been ever since. He's been with us for almost all of our marriage. Right after we moved to this house, he was almost killed by the neighbors dogs. After that, he pretty much stuck around the house. He was a huge, black cat. We all loved him very much.