The cat of four continents,

three states, and eight government related moves, Bailey, the original fur-in service gato extraordinaire, died peacefully in the wee hours of Sunday, May 7, 2017, at the age of 18-ish.

He was my first cat (ever), and the most relaxed, toddler-proof, child-friendly cat around. In the States, he kept us on our toes by occasionally escaping outside, and forcing a massive family cat-hunt. Overseas, the thought of leaving the house seemed to scare him (good, as he could sneak out quickly!), so he  alternated between hanging out atop our Drexel Heritage hutch in the dining room and "taking care of" the massive roaches that we never found alive. There weren't many, truth be told, but finding only the dead, dried up carapaces infinitely preferable to living cucarachas.

Along with the rest of us, our lifestyle allowed him to know countless hotels, endure crazy long flights, hang out in too many airports to count, be quite ill in too many planes, cars and shuttles to count (poor guy got very car and plane sick…it's a family thing), and go through more trips to more vets in more countries with medical tests to match. He always came through the tests with flying colors, and even (eventually) forgave us for the four week quarantine in Iceland. His only wish during his entire stay there was to figure out where the amazingly strong fish aroma came from (when you live near the water….).

 

 

 

 

In his youth, he enjoyed the views from the tops of the famous Foreign Service Drexel hutches. As he aged, he moved onto the orange, humpback couches ever present in any overseas FS home, and in his final year, he spent most of his time atop his sister's queen size bed, just large enough for him to stretch out.