My dearest Pericles,

I hope that your Daddy might read this to you over your grave when he is
strong enough again to do so.

Alas life didn't give us the time to get to know each other well, but what I
did know of you I liked very much.  May I even be so hesitant to say that
love for you was blooming in my heart - my heart that is now broken and will
never again be completely whole.

You were brave, strong, caring and protective of your loved ones - all the
goods things a cat can be.

To say you were handsome would be an understatement, but your masculine
beauty was surpassed by your adventurous spirit and the beauty of your soul.

The last years of your life were spent loving and supporting your Daddy, and
I know he will miss you much more than I will, but I hope you know I will
miss you very, very much.

I am so sad your life was cut short by such a pernicious illness!  It seems
so unfair that the good, the brave, the ones who *should* be with us to
support us and keep us strong are taken from us far, far too soon.  But I
know that you will always be with us in spirit and your love will shine down
on your Daddy, and hopefully a little bit for me.

Cats are not able to shed water from their eyes like our humans do (Mommy is
shedding lots and lots of water from her eyes for you), but that doesn't
mean that we do not care just as deeply and hurt just as much when the ones
we love are taken from us.

My tears come instead as quiet mewls as I sit and contemplate what might
have been, and the purring I'm doing is not from contentment but in the
attempt to ease the hurt inside my heart.

Mommy says I must purr extra loud and extra strong to help heal your Daddy's
broken heart, and I am doing so, as are my sisters.  I hope your Daddy knows
how many people and kitties around the world are hurting with him right now,
and how sad they are that they can't be there with him to give him hugs and
help him grieve.  They are all thinking about him and sending him cyber
hugs, but I know this doesn't really help ease the pain of your loss.

Dear Pericles, you will be missed and loved throughout the years of my life,
and I will never have another boyfriend - you will be my boyfriend forever.
You will never be forgotten for as long as I, or my Mommy, or your Daddy
lives, so in a way you will live on through me and through them.

One day I will join you at the Rainbow Bridge and I hope you are the first
there to welcome me home.  Until then, go and explore and find all the best
napping spots, the best hunting grounds, the warmest sunbeams, and the
coolest grass meadows, but please keep me in your heart as you will be kept
in mine.

All my love, with all my heart.

Your forever girlfriend,

Sammy