In the spring of 2012, a beautiful white cat with gray patches and large green eyes arrived in our neighborhood. She was rail-thin, which we discovered was due to the fact that she was feeding a large litter of kittens. I vividly remember the day I sat in my neighbor’s yard, attempting to feed this poor, skinny kitty, when a rustling in the bushes slowly revealed – one by one – the faces of seven adorable babies. Three white and gray like their mom, three black and white tuxedo, and one solid black. Amazingly, my neighbor managed to catch all of the kittens, bring them to a shelter, and then bring their mom to a vet to be spayed. When she brought the cat back to our community and released her, my mom and I knew that since we had already been feeding her, she would continue to come to us for food and that eventually, we would adopt her and bring her indoors. My neighbor gave us the cat’s heart-shaped vaccination tag in an envelope marked “122985 – Stray”. There wasn’t much discussion as to what this beautiful cat’s name would be, as my mom started calling her “Cleo” right from the start. Cleo was good-natured and fit in well with her feline housemates, except at mealtimes when she would quickly devour her food and then attempt to scarf down everyone else’s food as well. Cleo quickly started gaining weight and my mom started feeding her with a spoon in an attempt to slow her down long enough to allow the other cats to eat. Cleo was a quiet, sweet, dignified cat, but she wouldn’t hesitate to direct a gentle, but firm “hiss” at her housemates if their shenanigans were getting out of control. Cleo also had the habit of waking my mom up in the morning by tapping her on the face with her paw, just in case my mom forgot about breakfast. After my mom passed away, Cleo continued this morning routine with me for ten years. In her last year of life, Cleo grew very thin again. She passed on the eve of Mother’s Day, which seems fitting since she was my mom’s last surviving cat, and was such a good mother to her kittens. I’ll never know exactly how old she was, but I am grateful for the fourteen years I had to spend with her. I will miss her sweet, quiet nature, her celadon-green eyes, and her gentle ways of showing her affection. Goodbye, sweet, beautiful Cleo. I love you and will never forget you. 2010(?)-5/9/2026