She was just a tiny thing when I first saw her in the headlights of my car.  As I turned into the drive that ran down behind the houses that perched on the hillside, on my way home, she ran out into the middle of the drive and stopped, waving her tiny kitten paw.  "Stop the car!  Stop the car!"  I did, of course, and waved her on across.  But she didn't go.  "Stop the car!  Stop the car!"  Clearly more communication was necessary with so tiny a creature so new to the world, so I got out to help her across the drive.  At that point, she made her move, ran around, and jumped up into the vehicle through the open door.  I got in to remove her, and she promptly settled into my lap.  "We can go now."  I drove the short distance to my house, wondering what I was going to do with her and where she'd come from.  When I opened the car door, she jumped out and trotted over to the back door of my home.  "Good to be home!" she purred.  That was about 14 years ago, when Sasseen (Assassin) came to live with the Black Cat Clan (as our neighbors called us) or, more accurately, the Dropping Off Point For Little Black Fuzzy Aliens (where aliens disguised as black cats come to be acclimated to the planet).  

It quickly became clear that we'd been honored by the Empress of the Universe.  Her word was always law, which could and would be enforced if necessary with a Long Claw In a Velvet Paw.  She never weighed over 4 pounds (though her son, Beezl, tops out now at somewhere between 20 and 25 pounds), but she always ruled.  And woe betide the Silly Monkey who challenged this.  She adjusted admirably to the move to the country - we had mice!  Many mice!  - but never lost her regal bearing.

She's been showing her age in little ways of late, without releasing her grip or losing her extraordinary beauty (she always looked like a beautiful, black, fluid velvet moving statue with golden glass eyes).  When the cold came, she insisted on being inside, curled up by the refrigerator where the warm air came out at just the right height and temperature.  We catered to her, moving her food and water dishes over by the refrigerator and giving her her favorite canned cat food and treats.  But last night, she suddenly cried out - her back end was paralyzed.  I calmed her as best I could (this was not acceptable to her, she was The Queen, after all), and we talked about it.  By the time my husband got home from work, it was over.  We did not have to take her to the vet's office (an injustice she always bore with dignity, but distaste), as we had thought we would, to be euthanized - she passed at home, with due attention and respect. 

I realized I don't have any photos of her to hand - they're all on zip disks and will need to be transferred to CD before I can share.  But her eulogy needed to be written, and shared - I'll come back and add one or two later.  

Sasseen, we'll miss you - even the horses and donkey girls.  The world won't run quite right without you here to enforce the rules, and I'm not quite sure how we'll get along without you.  Rest sweetly, dear one.