Remembering Ari, the Beloved Family Cat (1987-2007)

Anyone who has visited this blog knows (or should know) that I am hardly the sentimental type. The exception is, of course, when the ole grim reaper raps on my door. Ari, who was also called Buck, came into my life at a very difficult time in 1989. For some reason my late stepbrother Steve, who died a premature death in 1993 (he was younger than I am now), decided to leave his two cats at our farm in the rural hamlet of Buchanan, Va. We still have no idea why he did something so foolish. Nevertheless, my mom was able to recover one of those cats. We initially named him Araman. My late father, Mehmet Gokbudak, had a cat by that name when he was a child in Istanbul. In Turkey, it was rare for families to have cats in their homes_ at least, that was the case in the 1930s. My father named our family cat on Diamond Road in Salem after Araman. Like the other Aramans, Ari was a black and white cat. We shortened his name to Ari. But, my late stepfather Ralph Wright liked to call him Buck. So, he had two names. He lived a long, full life. He would be about 90 years old in human years. Still, the death of a pet is not an easy thing to deal with. I fully realize this is not something that a starving kid in Bangladesh would be concerned about, but whenever we lose something dear to us it is inevitably difficult to adjust. My favorite memory of Ari is when he brought a live rabbitt into the house when he was still very young. The rabbitt stayed in the house for several days_ much to our horror. He ultimately finished him off. Quentin Tarantino would be proud. We will miss you, Ari. Happy Trails.............