Emmett Rice
August 15, 1992 - November 10, 2005
Emmett was a constant presence in our lives for the past 13 years. When
we got up in the morning, he got up with us. The last thing we heard
at night when we fell asleep was his purring. And, every time we came
in the door, he was there to greet us.
Naturally, he developed a long list of nicknames:
Mister Greeneyes
Mister Headlamps
Mister Bunny Belly
Ruler of All He Surveys
Mister Paddy Paws
Half-Acre Cat
Purr-Meister
Tummy-Slut
From which, you may deduce, he had big green eyes, a soft white tummy that
he loved to have rubbed, purred most of the time, took up a lot of
the bed, and pretty much regarded himself as the king of the house.
When my father visited us, he took one look at Emmett, and asked if he
made the mortgage payments, since he clearly owned the house.
When we left our cats in a neighbor's care, she used to come in and knit
and watch John Wayne movies with Emmett. She asked us to leave him
to her in our wills.
Another neighbor who took care of him while we were away left us a CD of
"Emmett's Favorite tunes" She decided this was music that made him
more willing to accept his pill.
Once, he went up to a passerby and sprawled on the sidewalk in front of
her. After petting him for a minute, she asked us if we wanted to trade
cats. There was nothing wrong with hers, she explained, she just liked
ours better.
When we took him to the vet, she exhausted every trick he knew to get Emmett
to stop purring so she could listen to his heart.
When he was accidentally locked out, he went to the house of a neighbor
who had a key to our house, and meowed until she came out and let him into
our house.
Emmett was born a barn cat in August, 1992, near Brownstown, Indiana. A
few weeks later, he made the best move of his life when he ran across the
road in front of Libby's car. We think he was waiting for her.
Emmett died November 10, 2005, on his favorite futon, surrounded
by his grieving subjects. He will be greatly missed.
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