Good-bye, Harry

My elderly cat Harry passed away on July 23, 2017. I'd been trying to prepare myself for his inevitable demise since December 6, 2016, when he gave me a scare. But Harry must've had more than nine lives--or else he simply loved his life and stayed as long as he possibly could physically. He had been a great tree climber in his younger days, and he was my dog's favorite cat, his buddy since the day he arrived in our yard years ago. With one exception, the occasional black bear visitor, Harry was always fearless; he never allowed the neighbors' dogs to chase him off his own deck and, when it came to other cats, our yard was his domain. By the last year of his life, Harry had even overcome his fear of black bears, treating them with total indifference. Harry was most certainly a cool cat.