My old buddy Zack passed away today. I went over to Mom’s house and helped Larry dig the hole and we said goodbye to him. Zack had cancer, responded well to chemo for a few years and then had a bad relapse in the last few weeks.

Larry found Zack when he was a stray. He came to the my parent’s house house begging for food and never left. Zack was the smartest and most affectionate cat that I’ve ever met. I will always remember him because he was the only cat that ever made friends with my father. My Dad did not want to make friends with cats because he did not want to outlive any more pets. Zack took every opportunity to sit on my Dad’s lap, something no one could understand. When my Dad was dying of cancer and in pain all the time, Zack never left him and was a great comfort to him. Zack was the only cat that my Dad ever liked. Zack wound up outliving Dad and missed him for a long time.

There is a race of great cats in my old neighborhood of Central Nyack. The females are all Calico cats and the males are usually red orange like Zack. If you ever need a great pet, come to 19 Vine street in Central Nyack and see if you can find a stray – everyone in the neighborhood feeds them, so just ask Larry and he’ll tell you who is homeless and who belongs.