Harriet

18 years ago, when my wife and I were dating and living in the West Village, we kicked around the idea of getting a cat. On the way back from our house in East Hampton, we stopped at Grace's Hot Dog place in Manorville. The local ASPCA had abandoned cats for adoption. We picked up two kittens that day, Spooky (gone 3 years) and Harry. We wanted a boy and girl cat. After we brought the two little kittens to the vet, he told us that Harry was a girl. Although we still usually called her Harry, we changed her name to Harriet. She was a  very gentle, sweet cat who was always very affectionate. In the last few months, her health deteriorated and she went blind and seemed to get dementia. We took her to the vet to have tests done the other day. She was in renal failure and had a very low red blood count. Before we and the vet could figure out what to do, she died in her sleep. My whole family misses her. Rest in peace, little one.