THE LOYALIST

Part owl, part human. part dog, but mostly cat, Miscellaneous proved to be one loyal feline.

Misc. is our daughter's cat. For 11 years. When we went to visit for July 4, our daughter left us to house sit him. She was off to Napa and San Fran with a friend from college.

It was pretty tough duty for us to go from 108 to 75 degrees. But we beached it and golfed it and made due.

For 3 nights, Misc. would not go upstairs where our daughter's bedroom is. He waited for her on the downstairs couch. Every morning, I early riser, would go downstairs to the front door and out to retrieve the morning paper. And there sat Misc. on the couch where he had spent the night awaiting the arrival of his mistress. Or his MS. I guess that sounds better.

When she got back, then all was clear for him to go back upstairs.

We've all heard of the loyalty of dogs, but I always thought a cat too independent. Not Miscellaneous.