Scarlett, circa 2003, age 17.

If she were a movie star, she'd have been Bette Davis. Long-lived, queenly, unable to suffer fools at all, let alone gladly. Whenever I was crying, she leaped into my lap. But somehow as she did this, I envisioned not a comforting pat, but rather Bette switching off Liebestraum and snapping, "I detest cheap sentiment."

She died today.

I love my cats because I love my home, and little by little they become its visible soul.
- Jean Cocteau