Thursday night, July 23, 2010, at 11:15 p.m., in the company of friends and family, I said good-bye to the longest-term live-in companion I have known. Cradling my beautiful Persian cat, Murphy, in my lap, I made the difficult decision to let him pass from this realm to the next. The week leading up to his passing was exhausting for both of us. I took him to the vet—I think it was on Monday—where I awaited a diagnosis. He had lost a lot of weight, and his appetite, and the ...