Jethro and I met in September of 1993. I was at the local shelter with my brother-he was picking up his new cat-and I went to "browse" the cat area. In the back of a cage was a white nose and I wanted to see who it belonged to. I opened the door and an orange manx went tearing out of the cage and ran down the hall until he got to the dog area. It was love at first sight!!! He had spunk and attitude and that's just the kind of cat I wanted. For the next 16 years, Jethro ruled the roost - staring down the neighbor's dogs, meeting the postman on the sidewalk, waking me up every morning by tapping me on the nose and staring at me until I got up and I think he was a siamese in a previous life. September 2009 he suffered a stroke that partially paralyzed his left side. I thought this was the end of our time together. Jethro wasn't ready to throw in the towel. He "re-habbed" himself - he was far too proud to not get to the litter box and made sure that he got there. He had his own set of stairs to get up on the bed. He wasn't going to let a "little stroke" stop him. He kept on going for almost another three years. He saw me through all of my ups and downs. I finally became a teacher with my own classroom this Spring and he was my little stress reliever, even helping me grade papers. He hung around until the day after the last day of school. It was as if he was saying, " hey Mom, I got you through to the end and now it's time for me to go." We were together just shy of 19 years. I miss his greatly and still expect to see him come walking down the hall. I'm grateful that his memory can live on here thanks to the memorial sent by Elliott Bay Animal Hospital.

Katherine G.