Agreed. We buried her in my folks' "pet cemetery" out back, where we had previously buried the four cats I grew up with, four dogs, and two of my cats I had as an adult, one a calico that had passed the year prior.

It was rather jarring, as I was digging the hole for Sophia (the Russian blue) with a pitchfork, after stabbing the Earth with it -- to bring it up and see it had pierced through the calico's skull!

When the Siamese went, I made sure to choose a different location...

This new chewy cat is also a calico, and I'd like her to be able to live to the 20 years the calico and the cat before her lived to. I like to think I'm doing something right, getting to two decades. That's why when Sophia went it was even more tragic, because she was out of order -- she died at 16, and the 18-year-old was still alive; we had "expected" her to go first, but it took her a few more months.

How sad, reliving these events. I'm looking forward to talking with @haejin on Saturday -- let's end on something positive! :)