by Maria Padilla
I met Sharkey in a NYC deli on 57th St. back in 1986 when the owner was reported by the health dept. that he had a cat in the bathroom that was pregnant. My employer at the time knew that I wanted a cat and called me on my day off and I took the subway from Brooklyn to meet my new friend. Sharkey has traveled with me from NYC to Massachusetts back to my home now in New Mexico and has always been the most loving cat that anyone could ever have. We affectionally called her "minky" because you could hold her in your arms while she wrapped herself around you like a mink. In March of this year Sharkey was diagnosed with lymphoma. Because of her age, I chose not to put her through chemo and treated her at home with liquid steroids and vitamins and just tried to keep her eating. She progressively lost the energy and too much weight; and became too weak to carry on. On Saturday, April 17th, my sweet little angel passed away in her sleep-sparing me from having to put her down. My partner and I had a beautiful ceremony for her and buried her out in our back yard next to a big beautiful tree. Sharkey got her name from a song that Laurie Anderson did called "Mister Heartbreak". There will never be another cat like Sharkey-and I am so Blessed to have shared her in my life for 18 yrs, and I know that her soul is now passed on to another body for someone else to cherish and love...