Willie was a Blue Persian(灰色波斯貓) that I used to have from 1994 through 2009.  Besides my families, he was the most intimate companion of mine during that period of time.  Whenever I came home from work, he would always greet me at doorstep with rolling himself on the ground.  Whenever I turned on my desk computer or electronic dictionary, the sound would immediately attracted him running over to me and then he jumped on the keyboard or the paper I was writing on.  But I wasn't mad at him because he was always my comforter.  (When I was transferred to NYC, we brought him with us, the custom lady officer caressed him a little bit, then let him in, no quarantine needed.  But when I took him returning to Taiwan, he was detained and kept in Chung Hsing University for a month under quarantine.)  He died of kidney disease at 15.  I miss you, Willie.

Willie Jr. is not Willie's offspring but named after him.  He is a black Maine Coon(緬因貓), one of the largest domesticated breeds of cat.  Though Jr. is not as one meter in length or longer as other male Maine Coons are, apparently he is larger than ordinary pet cat.  He now lives with my wife's nephew at a mansion in Bay Area where there is a vast golf course beyond its backyard, around which Jr., as a cat from the breed with hunting skills, is able to show his intrinsic capability to kill.  Rats, hares, snakes, and even flying bird are often fallen prey to him.  In his heyday, Jr. took his home as merely a place to sleep, and the cat food as his dim sum.  He acted just like a feral cat; the only thing he liked to do when he'd awaken was to go outside for hunting.  (People are busy opening doors for him to go out and come back.)

Willie Jr. is over 15 years old, a decrepit old cat now.  He is feeble and slow, just like a newborn pussycat.  His master, my wife's nephew, wanted to leave for Taiwan to spend lunar new year with his parents, so during his absence he sent Willie Jr. to our place.  I love to take good care of Jr., but this pathetic scene makes me think of an Oscar-winning film "老人與貓".  Well, this is life.