February 2011 to July 2024 – Murray
I picked this good-looking little snuggle bug of a long haired cat from a shelter in 2011. His shelter-given name was Gavin, and that simply wouldn’t do as I did not want to falsely represent myself as some sort of a Gavin Rossdale superfan—how embarrassing! Having been stuck my entire life with all M’s for my own initials and thus never being able to get a single thing monogrammed (Mmm…), I chose Murray as his name due to its proximity to ‘furry’ and obviously for the M. He went by a variety of other “M” nicknames like Murdock, Myrtle, and Murder -- which became his full-time name for all intents and purposes. Like the Snoop Dogg song, Murder was the cat that they gave me.
Murray/Murd had a rather sophisticated palate for a cat, and would eagerly eat cooked vegetables, berry protein smoothies (a favorite unless you put banana in it), mashed potatoes, some occasional Caesar salad, and other things that you wouldn’t think would be a part of a cat’s preferred diet. His true culinary love, however, came in the form of beef. This should be unsurprising, as the American domestic feline is largely regarded as a natural predator to bovine and cattle herds. From sophisticated slow-braised short ribs to the humblest of hamburgers, Murray was a beef man and he was absolutely never late to dinner.
Murray was a low-key, cautious cat in his approach to all things, and particularly “new people” whom he largely regarded as shady. All newcomers and visitors carefully matriculated through his “New Shady Person Vetting and Onboarding” procedure until he reached a level of begrudging satisfaction that said “new shady person” could be entrusted to a trial period of petting. Upon full acceptance, Murray’s full suite of snuggliness and playfulness became available, and in return, you were expected to make regular people-food offerings before he helped himself.
Murray and I used to play a few rounds of fetch every single night as a bedtime tradition. He loved sitting under the Christmas tree, and enjoyed short stints on our patio sitting in a chair and enjoying the breeze, smells, and a patch of sunlight. He was a gentle soul with his kitty siblings, always the peacemaker type and never the one to start trouble. He looked dapper in sweaters and bow ties. He loved his people and entrusted us with his life. I hope I served him well.
Murray will be sorely missed and always remembered. I thank everyone who was a part of this sweet soul’s life and those who offered him kindness and love, particularly as he aged. Murd, forever a gentleman, it’s been my honor and I’m so grateful for our 15 years together.
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