garnigal | Goodbye Lyra-cat

We bought this house in 2008. We got an amazing price as it was a foreclosure, and we moved in August. We already had 3 cats, and they were always kind of annoying to each other.

In September, we looked out the window to see a tiny calico race across the deck to hide.

So then we had 4 cats, and all the annoying disappeared. Lyra brought balance to the kitten caboodle.

We lost the older 3 between 2013 and late 2015, and got another cat in March 2016, adding my mother-in-law's cat for a few months as well when she moved into a retirement building.

Lyra was 17, and getting quite frail. I knew she wasn't long for this world, but on Thursday she fell. She was moving awkwardly and slowly after that, and went to rest in her cat bed. An hour or two later, I noticed she was breathing quite shallowly, and she died in Derek's arms just after midnight.

It was a very sad couple of days, followed by a busy weekend. I know we'll heal, but for the time being, my house is a lot quieter.