The last week has been a tough one for me, as we had to say goodbye to another of our cats. Maikai, who died on Saturday, was always my favorite of our three cats. Maikai means “beautiful” in Hawaiian, and this picture will give you an idea why we called her that.
This was taken about two months ago, when she had already lost a great deal of weight due to kidney failure. Here is another picture of her when she was young and healthy (1998):
Maikai was also the most mischievous of our cats, and was forever turning up in unexpected places: in a box, on the roof, up a tree, under the bed (or, on one memorable occasion, inside the mattress … but that’s a long story), etc. Here she finds out why cats aren’t supposed to be on the dining-room table …
Those of you who have listened to my ChessLectures might know Maikai’s voice. When you hear a cat meowing in the background, it is almost always Maikai. There was one lecture, in particular, where I was saying, “I don’t know …” and just at that moment Maikai decided to jump up in my lap and meow into the microphone. Then I ad-libbed, “And my cat doesn’t know either!” I’d really like to hear her voice again, but probably it’s not worth it to listen to all 50-odd lectures I have given to find this one moment. Do any of you happen to remember which lecture that was?
So I’m sorry to tell you that my “co-lecturer” has passed away. Maikai lived to be nearly 19 years old, a ripe old age in cat years, and just like the title of this book she is reading says, she had a wonderful life.
