My cat Graymalkin died recently. She was 17 years old, and went peacefully curled up in the sun in one of her favourite sunning spots. From when she was a kitten she would snooze or just sit and chill on my lap whenever I was at my computer. She got me through uni and a bad breakup which had me running home to Christmas Island for a little while. If not for her I wouldn’t have gone back to Perth and would have ended up living a completely different life. Her weight (what there was of it, she was a teeny tiny cat) and purring and soft fur got me through all the things that required focus and concentration while sitting still.