Licorice

Sadly, on Friday night our dear cat, Licorice, died unexpectedly. She wasn’t sick and was quite young (probably 7 or 8 years old), so her death was a real shock to our family. Luckily, my mom and sister were still here visiting so they helped us through the challenging evening.

Licorice came into our lives about three years ago. She chose us…approaching Bucky in the backyard at 500 Royall Avenue one morning as he lounged by the pool after cooling off from his early morning bike ride. She greeted him with a friendly meow, but did not stick around to chat. She returned the following morning and the one after that and the one after that….Bucky began to give her food and she seemed to appreciate the attention. She enjoyed visiting out by the pool and eventually made her way onto our porch. Bucky and I guessed that she probably didn’t have a home, and we thought that she might be sleeping underneath our shed. When her visits became a regular occurrence, we asked our neighbors if anyone was missing a black cat. No one was. So, we invited her into our home. I am not sure if it was her sense of independence or her wariness of our other kitties, but she was less than enthusiastic about coming inside at first. We gave her her space and let her enter on her own terms, and once she got a taste of living at the Wall household, she was sold.

She was a particular kitty who liked things a certain way…she liked her ‘crunchies’ fresh, loved sitting outside in the sun, and liked to watch Bucky garden and me hang out the laundry. We always appreciated when she “helped.” She liked to sit under tables and always boasted after going potty by scratching her claws on the rug. She wasn’t crazy about being held, but she let us love her lots. She dealt well with change…happily moving in with us to my parents’ house and their two cats until my mom and dad brought her to France in October with Pippi and Baci.

She loved France…Upon arrival, she made Kathleen’s room her base and slept nightly on the soft red blanket at the foot of the bed. She also made herself at home in our big back yard. She loved the Provence sun, the olive trees and the vegetable garden. Every morning when Bucky got up, the first thing he did was open the garage door off of the kitchen so Licorice could run outside. When the snow hit last month, she was not happy because it was so cold and she felt confined to the house. Luckily, as the snow melted and the sun began to shine again, she spent lots of time outside. We buried her out in our backyard in the flower garden, under the sun dial that Lucie discovered. She left the same way she came into our lives, with a bit of mystery and on her own terms. We feel blessed that Licorice chose to join our family and we will miss her very much.