Your adopted papa misses your cuddliness, especially when you would crawl under the covers and stretch out your paws into his face. You were so sweet and gentle. He misses your head bops too along with your sneaking into cabinets and God forbid if you left a dresser drawer open you'd be in it. Sweet Forever Dreams Mikola I hope your cancer is gone forever.

Miko, the house is so quiet now...

6/3/10--Made popcorn today and couldn't stop crying thinking you would be all over it. We both loved salty snacks! I always thought you were some lovely old lady's kitty before you became our baby, because you just loved climbing into laps and eating people food like a spoiled baby, especially if you could eat off the table with the rest of the humans. We never knew how you came to be at the shelter when we signed up to volunteer that fateful May, but there you were staring at us for a half-hour while the line barely moved, an entire cage half the size of our living room for your home and you weren't moving in it. We couldn't understand who would give up such a beautiful kitty, only a few years old and so charismatic. We thought your former owner must have passed away. You were so comfortable with people, we thought your former owner must just have loved you rotten (and of course we carried on the honored tradition). I hope you are reunited with your former person(s) now, if they too are up there, and comforting them as much as you comforted us. Please give Em our love, too...I'm sure she is there holding and stroking your soft, crimped fluffy fur like we used to love to do. Good night my beloved Miko...may you be resting softly in God's lap enjoying the bliss of the afterlife's charms...free of pain and full of yummy salty buttery popcorn for you!

6/8/10--Miko-la, please forgive Cheyenne for digging near your grave. She misses you too. Her favorite place to lie used to be near the fireplace, as you probably know, but now it's right next to your grave. I think she's offering her friendship. We all still miss you here, Miko, and Cheyenne's trying to adjust with Jack now in the house. I still miss you terribly whenever I see your old resting spots -- our pillows, the dryer/washer, our baskets. Miko, no one sleeps on the top of the kitty tower anymore, even when I put them there. I think they are respecting your space. You are still remembered here as top kitty. We love you MIKO! Rest in peace, baby-la. We miss you but someday we will be reunited again, over that lovely rainbow bridge where all is green and smiley.

7/8/10--Miko, saw another kitty who reminded me so much of you when I was dropping Lucky off at ACE. She let me pick her up and snuggled against me just like you did. She even head-butted my chin like you used to when I talked to her. Aww, she was such a love--please look over her from whereever you are up above. I miss you so much. Today I dreamt you were asleep again on my lap, and I felt so comforted like I used to when you would rest with us at night. Rest in peace, my love--and please forgive Cheyenne for digging near your earthly resting spot. I know your spirit is no longer there, and she just likes the soft dirt and cool grasses, flowers and low bushes to rest in when it's hot here. I love you, little one! Rest in safety and bliss. You deserve it after all you've pushed through!

2/6/11--Little Miko, when I see my neighbor's aging kitty, she reminds me so much of you--also a top cat with Maine coons in the house, despite her small size and age. Please watch over these kitties as their parents are away. :) And stay with Pa ... you know he went to meet you exactly 2 months after you arrived in Heaven. Now there's Aunt Barla to greet too. I think she'd like a kitty just like you; she was strong-willed and head of household too. We miss you, little one! Be happy and free from pain now.

5/22/11--Miko-la, I still miss you so very much. There's no one like you to make me feel settled, safe, and secure when I go to sleep at night. You knew where it hurt and you sat there or kneaded it with your soft fuzzy paws. Your thick warm tail was the fuzziest I've ever seen, a big tail for a small cat with big ambitions. I miss your head-butting and your crying, and your warm purr and crimpy hair on the very top of your head, so perfectly waved as if you'd spent hours all morning making its pattern. Since I put your image in my laptop at work, it hasn't crashed as much. I wish you were still with us. You left us so fast...I still can't believe it was only a few years you were with us, because my heart was stolen that first day you sat on my lap while I worked--you just purred there, contentedly. No one like you, Miko--please comfort Pa, Barla, Em, and all my other relatives and friends who have gone to the other side. Please watch over us and help us stay warm and safe, comfortable and loved as you did when you were here. I miss you still so very much! Love transcends death

7/4/12--Miko-la, today is our country's independence day. You've been gone now about 785 days--but we still think of you. Cheyenne doesn't dig around your grave anymore. We put a berry bush nearby on the lattice, but your grave is still covered with flowers. There are wild berries growing just outside the fence we laid, and your resting place is undisturbed. Please keep Pa and Ursula company up there beyond the rainbow. Aunt Barla and Em too. I know you'd love Em, and she'd love you, but you'll recognize my silly Pa I'm sure. You always liked to rest on his lap no matter what he called you. Thank you for your years of love! We miss you. You showed us how to love unconditionally, and I'm grateful you are no longer in so much pain. Rest in peace, Miko-la-la, you are still our king cat! We love you!!

1/16/13--Miko, today we lost another friend to aggressive cancer, just like we lost you. He left so quickly, and his wife with whom we both worked is devastated I'm sure. Please comfort him when you see him. I can't believe he's gone, just like you were gone so fast after we thought we'd licked the cancer and beaten the odds. You did beat the odds, Miko: you gave me and give all of us hope that there is a cure, there is more than just what the doctors give you of 18 months or less to live. Thank you for inspiring us never to give up. Please watch over Smokey as you used to do as he has just arrived. Maybe you can show him where Em and Pa are; they'll remember Smokey and you know they'll be good to him. Now don't you jump on his back like you used to! Maybe you can share some delicious seafood now that Smokey doesn't have to worry about allergies. I miss you both so much!! I feel so lost in the morning without Smokey's hello and at night without your comforting presence. Thank you so much for being such a wonderful inspiration and comfort to us both! We love you, Miko!!

5/11/13--Dear Miko, today I accepted an invitation to a fellow chorister's home for dinner and a concert. She had invited us 3 years ago to an event on 5/22/10 and we had also accepted. Erik doesn't remember. He only remembers having to put you down. That fateful Saturday it was so beautiful out but you weren't feeling well. You were woozy, you wobbled when you jumped down from your favorite nesting place on top of the dryer (on your kitty bed--no one uses it now, Miko-la!), and you felt hot and looked a little swollen in your cheeks. We took you to the only vet that was open near us, thank goodness, and they had to test your temp twice to be sure--we are sorry for the inconvenience, the downright painfulness of that, I know it's no fun, but you registered a high fever and the vet found two cancer sites growing, one in your face on your cheeks and also in your intestines. She said she could give you something for the fever but you'd have to have your jaw removed for the facial cancer--it was very aggressive. I wondered if it was a result of the VAS, but it came so much later. It explained why you weren't eating the last two days. We said goodbye, but to this day I think you were trying to fight it, to tell me to let you live, although you were so much in pain big-hearted boy. So today as I make reservations I remember how I had to call and cancel three years ago...it will be a melancholy dinner and concert, but I hope you will be there in spirit. Little Annie is kindof like you, but she is so tiny we don't let her hunt the birds or mice (you were smart and stayed near our house, only eating mice; she goes everywhere and gets herself in trouble). There's still no one who snuggles up to me and comforts me like you did when I turn in for the night. Thank you, Miko-la, for your gift of many lives to us. We could have taken the chance on a couple more, but we hated to see you miserable, so miserable with only a chance to live if you didn't want to eat or chew anymore. Not your kind of life, Warrior Miko-la-la. You were King. Eight pounds, ten claws, full teeth, and King of the House. We miss you, Miko-la. P.S.= Erik named his last batch of beer after you! Hope you are pleased!!

6/5/13--Beautiful Miko, please smile down on the individuals who are having such a hard time with loss of their loved ones. It's been a difficult winter/spring for so many. I am grateful for your presence in my life, for what you gave to us in your few short years here. You were always so verbal about your needs, but so quiet when you were in pain. Beautiful little Miko-la, now you are at rest. Say hello--ein Gruss--to my father and aunts and uncles keeping you company; I know they will all love your fiesty spirit and soft, crimped, fluffy coat and tail, with your large beautiful green eyes to offset the black and that little brown tinge around your neck, reflecting the little lion you were. I lost the dog protection case on your 3d anniversary and it really hurt--I hope the puppy will be fine, please watch over him if you can. I miss having you here; you'd be lying on the couch, on top of the back, your arms stretched out straight like a Sphinx, and your head regally held like a Pharaoah King. Miss you, Miko-la. Erik named the litigation ale after you...we thought it was appropriate. You were a fighter who would not back down. Goodbye, Miko-la!