It was a sad day yesterday, as one of our cats passed away. Amo was 15 years old. We left the cats at home on Saturday and spent the night camping. When we returned home Sunday evening, we found him lying on the sofa. We all thought he was just asleep at first, and we went about our business putting away the camping gear and the kids taking their showers. I was the one who discovered that he had died. Apparently he had laid down for a nap earlier in the day and passed away in his sleep. Seems like a good way to go. He didn’t show any signs of illness before we left, so we were all shocked and the kids were especially sad. Amo was a great cat, loving to his family and “entertaining” to our friends. Mariko and I first brought him home as a kitten when we lived in Japan in ‘97. He made the trip back to the States with us in ‘99 and moved with us from apartment to house, and then to our current house. He was so affectionate to us, and when the boys were born, Amo was loving with them too. We’ll miss him.