Grace

On May 15, 2022 around 3 p.m. Eastern Time, we lost our travel companion and best friend: Grace.

We rescued Grace from the Atlanta Humane Society in 2006 as a 9-month-old kitten – just a month after we moved in together.

After living together in Atlanta for a couple of years, we moved to Austin, TX in 2009. At our apartment in Austin, Grace loved to go outside on our balcony to watch the birds, squirrels, and nature.

Grace was a remarkably good traveler, traveling to 7 countries and 17 states with us (see lists below). From car rides and living out of an RV full-time to international flights and taking trains through Europe, she never complained and never seemed stressed – but was always curious.

Her international travel was enabled by the European Union pet passport that Grace held starting in 2018. At the time, she was 12 years old but as curious and explorative as ever.

Grace even authored a post on The Points Guy! As part of our world travels together, we stayed at a Kimpton in New York City and she “wrote” up her review:

Too Aloof, Even for a Cat: Kimpton Ink48 Hotel in New York City

When we traveled without her, our adaptable cat Grace settled in with my dad at first and then with Katie’s parents more recently. We are forever thankful to them for “co-parenting” with us and caring for her… and sorry for how Grace completely ignored them once we came home.

When COVID shut down travel in March 2020, Grace was the best part of being kept from traveling. In her old age, she became as sweet as ever.

In August 2020, Grace transitioned without trouble to our new RV life. Grace loved sticking her head out the window to watch the birds, laying in the sun, climbing up in the overcab/”cat loft”, and snuggling up with us at night.

We deeply deeply miss our fur-child. Grace was a foundational part of our relationship, from having adopted her just one month after moving in together to now as a married couple for over 12 years.

Things We Love About Grace

This is an ongoing list that we started while Grace was still alive and continue to add to in no particular order.

Her felt ears
Her mane
Her whiskers
Her ear tuffs
Her sleeping at our heads at night

Her drinking from the sink – usually demanding the sink even if a water bowl is available

Her darting around the Atlanta apartment as a kitten
Her playing with ice as a kitten

Her chasing treats across the kitchen floor in Austin

Her insistence on lap time as an old cat

Her sweet soul
Her beautiful eyes
Her venture into the ferns in Titusville

Her adoption of Tracy’s blanket

Her chirps when startled
Her snorting when we do something that annoys her
Her ability to scout out and settle into a new hotel, place, parent’s home in such a short time

Her explorations down hotel hallways and how she’d dart back toward the room when scared
Her manic rubbing up against laptops, monitors, or anything she could scratch her face on
How she would sit on our laptops – sometimes closing the lid

How she wanted to be in the same room as us
How she didn’t want to offend either of us by getting in the other’s lap (as a younger cat)
How her fur parts
How she circles around before laying down
How she stole our chair when we leave the room

How she wraps her tail around her
How she reaches out when happy
Her soft fur as an elderly cat
How she stretches out her arms to fly
How she would “groom” us at night

How she sat in JT’s lap on the way home from the humane society, with quick glances up and out of the window
How she always traveled well – never meowing, never seeming too stressed, even using the portable litter box in-flight

How she licked Kate’s friend Charlotte’s feet
How she was hiding under the newspapers at the humane society when we went to pick her up
How she would look out the windows of the RV

How adaptable she is – international travel, moving into the RV, living with Glenda (with their own communication style), living with John
How she knew that we stored treats in the RV cabinet and would go up on the overcab to demand them
How we would return to our apartment after a trip to find fur and hairballs all over the place
How she was always fiercely loyal to us, growling at John and Glenda as soon as we would return
How she waited for us to get home before passing
How she always wanted to be near us in her final days – crying out the one time we both went downstairs
How she would sit on the top of the toilet seat when we would shower (particularly in Atlanta and Austin)

How she would bat treats off of the top of scratching posts
How she would hunt down treats that we left around the apartment, scavenger hunt style
How she loved playing with ribbons and floss
How she would run into the room when you shook a can of treats
How we hid in the Atlanta apartment bathtub together during a tornado warning
How she would be our shadow, following us around from room to room
How she was a “sun cat”, happily lay on her back, sunning her belly in Atlanta and Austin
How she would sit on top of the leather Ikea couch

How her ears would act as little radars
How she got in Margaret’s lap when we were about to leave in the RV

How she would purr so easily when we gave her attention in her later years
How she put on a “show” in the RV overcab (curtains drawn)

How she would jump up in the overcab – even when 16 years old – to enjoy the cat loft
How she got more blonde in her old age
How she would attack her catnip bananas – kicking them with her rabbit feet
How she would hang her paws and head off of the bed, counter, RV overcab
How she sat with Katie as she wrote her thesis
How we would see her in the window when coming home to Gene/Glenda’s house
How she would lay in bed on top of us at night

How she had her nighttime routine with JT: chest scratching, neck scratching, then ear scratching
How much she would get excited about the water fountain “glup-glup”
How she would stick her tail straight out when exploring
How she would hide under the hotel bed when she saw us packing up – like that was going to keep us from moving onto our next destination
How she would reach out her paws in front of her, crossing them like a lady

How she would get right up on top of Katie, right up next to her face to smell Katie’s lip balm (yellow tube)
How she would reach her paw out towards us when we were near her
How she would excitedly explore a new hotel room, family member’s place, etc.
How she would hear when JT’s car came home from work
How she would smell our shoes, clothes after a trip, etc. If it smelled strong enough, her jaw would drop and leave her mouth open.
How she would nest in warm laundry
How we could see her little nose aggressively sniff the air when looking out an open window
How she would stretch her back by climbing up JT’s leg to reach a treat
How she would stretch her back on the scratching post
How she loved going out on the Austin patio
How she loved looking out the window at the birds in Cumming
How she watched the sunrise and listened to the birds her last two mornings

How she brought us so much joy
Once she realized Katie was awake, she’d climb on Katie’s chest for petting
How she’d climb over Katie at night in the RV
How she’d sleep on top of Katie the first night after a trip, besides Katie the second, and then like normal onward

States Grace Visited

  1. Georgia
  2. Louisiana
  3. Texas
  4. Florida
  5. New York
  6. Alabama
  7. South Carolina
  8. Tennessee
  9. Pennsylvania
  10. Kentucky
  11. Illinois
  12. Missouri
  13. Iowa
  14. Wisconsin
  15. Michigan
  16. Indiana
  17. Ohio

Countries Grace Visited (outside the U.S.)

  1. Germany
  2. Italy
  3. Belgium
  4. Finland
  5. Canada
  6. France
  7. Spain