Ricochet

Ricochet Full Name: Ricochet Nicknames: Ricky, Mr. Shay Given B-day: May 21, 1991 Crossed: August 1995 Quirks: Bouncing off of walls (hence the name) History: I met Ricochet at the same time that I met my friend, Mark. Mark had found him in a parking lot and brought him home. That little bugger was nuts! He literally would rip & tear around the house, bouncing off any wall that he hit. He kept going, too! He had one of the most high-pitched meows I've ever heard! It was more of a squeal than anything else! Usually, I try to talk to the cats in their own meows but I couldn't get that high with Ricky. Mark fell on some hard times and asked me if I would take care of Ricky & Gabby (She's here! See: Gabby) until he could get back on his feet. Needless to say, I said I would. I raised Ricky for almost the first two years of his life. It was an experience I'll never forget or regret! Ricochet wasn't very tolerant of other cats. Actually, he was more of a terrorist (See Dif-"fur"-nitions) than Bruno (see The Bru' Clan)! He really played rough but in time, he calmed down. He was always very sweet to me! At night, it was a bedtime ritual for him to knead his paws on my chest for awhile. When he was done, he'd climb down so I could turn over. Then he'd put his front paws in my hand while he stretched out at my side. We'd go to sleep cuddled that way every night. The day finally came when Mark was ready to take his babies back. Boy, that hurt! I missed Ricky & Gabby daily but I knew they were in good hands. Mark was very busy at the time but when we'd talk on the phone, he'd let me talk to the cats, too. They never forgot my voice. I nearly always had good conversation with them! Then came the day when Mark admitted that he was hav- ing problems with Ricochet. Ricochet was managing to get outside at every opportunity. One of the distressing things he was doing was to lie down in the middle of the street, playing "chicken" with the cars! Mark was working two jobs at the time. He also had irresponsible room mates who didn't always watch out for Ricky when they went in or out. Mark asked me to take Ricky once again for his safety. I had the time to watch and retrain Mr. Shay. I agreed. I was ecstatic at the prospect of having my rowdy little cuddlebug back! I couldn't wait!! The only problem we were having was getting together to bring Ricky back to me. In the meantime, Mark's solu- tion was to put Mr.Shay on a leash inside. I asked Mark not to because I was afraid our baby would be hurt if he tangled himself on something. Mark, however, assured me that he'd made the leash long enough for Ricky to go almost anywhere in the house. He also assured me that he'd made sure there wasn't anything for Ricky to tangle in. Sadly, the worst did happen. When Ricky jumped down into the living room, the leash caught on the bedroom door. One of the room mates woke to find him, already having made his journey. Mark called from work when he found out that our beautiful boy wouldn't be coming home to me, after all. We talked for hours about our son, keeping him alive for all time, neither of us hold- ing back our tears. We talk about him quite a bit even now. Mark was teary when he saw the picture above. As far as I know, it's the only picture of Ricochet there is, taken when he was with me. Two rolls of film were ruined during that time. I'll bet there were more Ricky pictures on one of those. We really don't need pictures, though. I can see Ricochet in my mind's eye squealing for treats, bouncing off walls and joining me at night for snuggle time. I love you, Mr. Shay! Save me a spot at the bridge next to yours. I wanna cuddle!

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