17 years ago this little puff of smoke colored gray fur appeared on our front porch. She told us she was hungry, she was pregnant, and we belonged to her now. She was always the boss, so she moved right in. She raised her kittens and several barn cats adopted later, and she was a strict mother. She trained all the other cats not to wander far from the house or barn, if they did she would go get them and lecture them all the way back. She had a sassy mouth. She taught our dog that he was not allowed to chase cats unless he wanted his face altered by her claws. They became best friends. She taught the rest of us that when she talked we gave her a treat, piece of cheese, or picked her up and scratched her ears until she had her fill. I have never seen a more loving, gentle, person loving cat. She let our young son take her down the slide and on a swing without complaint. Smokey Jo will be forever sitting on everything I look at inside and out, she was always under foot and under hands, but more that that, she is forever in our hearts.