Goodbye to Bach

 This past Saturday morning in Washington we woke up to a text from our house/cat sitter.  It was Bach’s time.  She had warned me a few days before that his health was deteriorating.  We had held out hope that he would make it until we got back so we could way our goodbyes, it was not to be.  

Bach was the last of the four cats of our youth.  He adopted us almost 20 years ago when we lived in our house on Madison Place in Annapolis.  He liked our cat Charlie and started sleeping on the back porch.  Greg started feeding him and I called the vet.  He was ours.  His name was originally spelled Bahc.  He was scrawny when we got him but he had a huge head.  His name was an acronym for “Big A** Headed Cat”.  It also filled in the “B” name from our clan of cats (Amaretto and Charlie).  

From the start he was an awesome cat.  Gentle and playful, he and Charlie were best friends.  When Charlie disappeared about 4 months before we moved to Chicago, we were all heartbroken, including Bach.  We moved and about a year later adopted a kitten we named Delilah. As expected, Bach loved her and they too became buddies until Delilah’s life was tragically cut short.  I couldn’t take getting another cat at that point so from then on it was just Bach and Amaretto, Amaretto the queen I should say.  

Bach waited patiently through our move back to Annapolis and Amaretto’s departure from our lives.  He finally became king of the house a few years ago.  Through it all he was our easiest most even keeled cat.  He was so loving and wonderful, I just can’t say enough about what a great cat he was for our family.

His decline started about 2 years ago.  He had several health issues but he continued to eat well and was generally healthy through his old age.  We really never thought he’d live long enough for us to need a caregiver for him on our trip but he did.  He was reasonably healthy when we left and we figured he’d make it till we got back.  So my friend and fellow cat lover Amanda agreed to stay at the house and look after him.  Thank you Amanda for giving him the love we couldn’t during his final days.   Also, thank you to our friend Nick who took him to the vet when we realized it was time to say goodbye. 

Rest in peace Bach, we know you are playing at last with Delilah and Charlie and once again giving Amaretto a hard time.  You will be forever missed.

(Note: We've been desperately trying to find a picture but without access to all our photos at home, I haven't had any luck)