The poor dear things, don't realize their Mama's gone into her own retirement
and they wander about her place looking for her.

The service was at the mortuary and they got a local minister to do it. It
was a small and quiet memorial; I wish Michelle had been granted her wish to
speak though. I don't know if anyone knew just how stubborn Marilyn could be:
this little, skinny woman once held a pack of city police at bay because cats
were found in an abandoned building that was going to be demolished, and she
stood there telling the cops to collectively do somethng involving their
mothers and the breaking of certain commandments as clearly outlined in the
Old Testament. Such was her passion for the animals who needed her. She did
not need to go passing tracts and whacking people upside the head with her
Bible; she lived the Christian witness without all the yammering and thumping
one might associate more negatively with a born-again person.

The house is to be sold, the proceeds to go to a joint venture benefitting
Hospice, the ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) Association, and local animal
shelters including Tenth Chance. The family are rather beside themselves over
this unexpected bequest. Michelle of Tenth Chance has practically threatened
the brother-in-residence to keep those remaining cats indoors, for we learned
today that one of the ten is FIV+.

I don't know if ALS makes you a little whacked up in the head or what--not
crazy, but confused. I knew Marilyn before that evil disease came and ate her
nervous system up; she was religious about vetting her cats and when she did
have one FIV case a couple of years ago she was stringent about sequestering
her. So why this adoptee of three years is running about among the other cats,
I've no clue. Not like Marilyn, unless ALS does something to cloud the
judgement; I will cast no aspersions on her, for she was my friend, she was
sick and it's not kosher to speak ill of our dead.

Michelle, the shelter president, has taken the cat in question to her own
place, which has a large spacious room set aside for FIV cases. If Sebastian--
a large, fat, healthy-so-far fella--doesn't get adopted out to a nice loving
one-cat household, he will not lack good care and love from the shelter folks.
So William of Orange has not come home with us today. He will be tested
tomorrow, as will all the others. Louie and I decided to pay for their
testing so the negative ones can be adopted out sooner and hopefully not have
to be quarantined; and the positive ones can be either placed with
conscientious and competent servants or live their lies in the cat-aids
sactuary. It was the least we could do for Marilyn, make sure her babies are
okay.

If and when my book gets sold, a tithe of all proceeds will be placed in a
charitable trust which we will set up in Marilyn's memory, to benefit the
shelters. There are things beyond my scope of ability, but tis thing at least
I can do to make the world a nicer neighborhood; and God willing, it'll
spread.

Blessed be,
Baha