JoJo, the tomato-eating cat

In light of the death of a very dear friend's furry family member, I find myself feeling out of sorts today. Dorey was the light of Rana's life for 14 years and offered Rana's blog readers all kinds of inspiration even on the dreariest of days. Yesterday, Rana posted the most spectacular picture of Dorey that captured his very soul.

When we moved to the ranch, there seemed to be an endless supply of mama cats and kittens. Mama raised the most beautiful gray and black tiger striped cat she called "Tiger Lily". Tiger Lily had a bob-tail and tufts on her ears that suggested she had lynx in her blood. We had our favorites through the years but one of the most favorite was one of Tiger Lily's kittens who grew to be a larger version of her. We called him "JoJo".

JoJo was more devoted to us than any dog we ever had. He would follow us when we rode our bikes. He would follow us when we hiked up on the hill behind the house. He would chirp at us if we got too scattered from him. And JoJo loved cherry tomatoes! The first clue we got was when tomato plants started growing in odd places. We'd find them behind the playhouse and on the edge of the sand pile. We never thought twice about JoJo following us in to the summer garden. And then Daddy confirmed it when he actually caught JoJo batting a ripe tomato from the vine. Damn cat carried off the tomato in his mouth like he had just killed the prize dove at the county fair.

We had to return to school in the fall but JoJo was always waiting for us when we got home in the evening. I'm pretty sure Daddy snuck store bought tomatoes to JoJo after the garden stopped producing fresh ones. I wish I could say that JoJo lived a long and prosperous life at the ranch but that isn't so. This particular fall Daddy had "day hunters" during hunting season. A man and his wife came out to hunt for whitetail. The woman saw Tiger Lily and JoJo and offered money for both of them. Daddy explained to the woman that Tiger Lily was Mama's pride and joy and JoJo was very attached to his humans as were his humans to him. The woman offered more money. Daddy said no. End of discussion. Daddy took the couple back to town after the hunt and deposited them at a local motel. The next day Daddy had a different group of hunters and was gone from the house most of the morning. He came in for lunch and noticed that JoJo wasn't at the back door waiting for him. Daddy called and called for JoJo but couldn't find him. Daddy noticed a set of tire tracks in the driveway that didn't belong to any of our vehicles. And then it dawned on him: That bitch from Houston came out and catnapped JoJo. Daddy rushed to town to the motel but of course the couple had already checked out. And the attendant told Daddy that the woman had a cat with her when they checked out. Said she bought it from a rancher because his kids were mean to the poor thing. It was a sad day at our house when Daddy had to tell us that JoJo was gone. Holli and I were prepared to go to Houston and find JoJo. (We didn't understand the logistics of going to Houston.) And we learned one of many life lessons on that dreary evening about the human race.

JoJo, the tomato-eating cat, lives forever in my memory. And I am proud to have been one of his humans.