Easter Monday was a sad day for our family as we said goodbye to a good friend, Newt Miller. Newt was my dad's cat and a colorful member of our family for almost 20 years.
My dad wrote this tribute to Newt, and I wanted to share it on the blog.
A Great Cat
Pam and I are filled with gratitude today for the life of an extraordinary cat, Newt Miller. Newt passed away peacefully this afternoon. He was almost 20 years old.
My daughter Laurel and I rescued Newt and three siblings as one-month-old kittens from where they were dumped on a back road near the Smokies on June 1, 1990. Newt was my soul mate ever since. He returned with me to my then home in Maryland (all of them found good homes), made the big move back to East Tennessee with me at the end of 1992, presided at our log house in the woods in West Knox County for a decade, then moved with me to Maryville when Pam and I were married in 2003.
Pam had endeared herself to Newt when she entered our lives in 1993. Pam always called him Mister Newt.
I marvel at the amount of love, support, companionship and just plain pleasure Newt gave to me and to others over these two decades. As one who grew up in a family of cat lovers, I have never had to seek them out. Cats "find" me, as did both Newt and his sidekick Cups who appeared at our house as a starving kitten when Newt was four. Among all of these wonderful kitties, Newt was special. He was my Greatest Cat.
In our flower beds is a stone with the inscription, Zelda's Garden, in memory of Newt's sister, who died over 10 years ago. There will soon be another, Newt's Nook. (And, yes, some day there will be a Cups Corner.)
Bless Newt's heart. He had a big one.
Mike Miller
Maryville TN
April 6, 2010
A Great Cat
Pam and I are filled with gratitude today for the life of an extraordinary cat, Newt Miller. Newt passed away peacefully this afternoon. He was almost 20 years old.
My daughter Laurel and I rescued Newt and three siblings as one-month-old kittens from where they were dumped on a back road near the Smokies on June 1, 1990. Newt was my soul mate ever since. He returned with me to my then home in Maryland (all of them found good homes), made the big move back to East Tennessee with me at the end of 1992, presided at our log house in the woods in West Knox County for a decade, then moved with me to Maryville when Pam and I were married in 2003.
Pam had endeared herself to Newt when she entered our lives in 1993. Pam always called him Mister Newt.
I marvel at the amount of love, support, companionship and just plain pleasure Newt gave to me and to others over these two decades. As one who grew up in a family of cat lovers, I have never had to seek them out. Cats "find" me, as did both Newt and his sidekick Cups who appeared at our house as a starving kitten when Newt was four. Among all of these wonderful kitties, Newt was special. He was my Greatest Cat.
In our flower beds is a stone with the inscription, Zelda's Garden, in memory of Newt's sister, who died over 10 years ago. There will soon be another, Newt's Nook. (And, yes, some day there will be a Cups Corner.)
Bless Newt's heart. He had a big one.
Mike Miller
Maryville TN
April 6, 2010
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