My parents called me today to tell me that the family cat of 15 years, Patches, had passed away. She had been living with feline diabetes for 2.5 years so this wasn’t a shock, but I’m still saddened to hear of it. My parents did an admirable job of taking care of her over the last several years (they even watched my cats while I was first moving to New York years ago) and for that I thank them. I’m just glad I got to see her one last time in December. She was even nice to me and not as much her usual hissy self. She even let me pet her for a while. So long Patches, thanks for being a good and lovable cat. Ironically, this picture of Patches is the last and best photo of her I took on my trip.