Dear Maui

Dear Maui,

Thank you for being my loyal companion. Thank you for 10 years of joy and constant nuzzles. Thank you for letting me love you with abandon. And thank you for sharing your life with me.  I remember the day we met and the time and how the sun cast a glowing orange on your face. The day you came into my life, the moment when I saw you watching me and with those intense eyes you fixed your gaze upon me. I had been waiting for you, too, for five thousand days at least. And how you were worth the wait and catlessness. I really wanted you to live forever, but then one day you couldn't. 

This is my favorite photo of you.

Those white booted paws and the way this photo shows you doing what you did best, thinking about where you wanted to be next.

You were the smartest cat I have ever known. My brother used to call you the "Furry human" because, he said, you thought. Sometimes you plotted. You seemed to be self aware, and I believe you were. I'll likely never know another cat who seemed to think and observe. Like you're doing in that photo, as if you're planning on being somewhere, like you were thinking about getting there.

Here's another photo of you that I really love. At Bill's house. I remember how you unfailingly ran to greet me each and every time I returned home; you were a rocket blasting off and I was the planet you always landed on.

2006

I don't know what you're looking at but I can see you thinking. You were the most sentient cat I've ever known. That remarkable intelligence observable through those big green eyes decorated with white eyeliner. You were a perfect being. 

I miss you. I love you, boy.  I love you. I'm crying.

Thank you for being my cat. Thank you for letting me be your human. Thank you for 10 wonderful years. You were a gift sent by God to help each other. This letter cannot express just how much you meant to me. 

Dear Maui,

I love you

your human