Two days ago I had to put my cat to sleep. She was never supposed to be my cat, but I looked after and loved her just the same. She was almost 15 years old, as close as we could tell.

Her name was Gary, or Miss Gary, sometimes. A long-hair calico, and quite a pretty cat. My nephew named her way back when he was seven and really into Spongebob at the time. She was a stray discovered in my parents' neighbor's garage after having her first litter of kittens. After a few months, and after her kittens were given away to good homes, my parents took her in. My mother was allergic, though, so Miss Gary became a porch cat. They set up a shelter for her on their decent-sized porch, took her to the vet to spay her, and gave her food and water every day. During cold days, she's go into the crawl space under the house and hung out in the furnace-heated cellar, but that was rare and she by far preferred to be outside whenever she could. The porch became her forever home.

When I moved back to my aging parents' hometown to help take care of them, I eventually ended up taking care of Gary as well after a while, especially after my father passed. At the time she was a very shy cat. Not mean by any measure, but her status as a stray made her very suspicious of people. It took her a while to warm up to me, but once she did she was very affectionate. Almost every time I'd come to the house, she would be right at the curb to greet me, wanting pets, purring and bonking her head on my leg when I'd scritch her just the way she wanted.

Gary was a good mouser, especially when younger. I don't think she ever caught a bird (though I did see her try) but she helped keep the yard free of rodents and bugs as she could. She began opening up to other people, making a friend of some of the neighbors and especially the mailman, eating up his pets whenever he passed by. She's make a nest in the shrubbery in the front and sleep away hot summer days in the shade. Miss Gary did get lost once for three months, thanks to my rather not-so-bright sister, but thankfully we got her back eventually without any harm to her. She was napping happily in her old spots within the day.

The last year, though, she began to wear down. She didn't groom herself so much, and I had to check in on her a lot more besides just feeding and petting her every day. She developed a tumor, but in the end there was nothing we could do for her. She was purring as I pet her right until the sedative the vet gave her began to kick in, and I stayed with her to the very end while he gave her the last shot.

Gary was the epitome of a good, sweet cat, and she will be missed.