I spent four years in the Army. When I got out I moved in with my Mother 
for a while. What I did not realize was that while I was away she had found 
a Cat and decided to give it to me when I got home. So there I was one day 
sitting in the back yard when this lady pulls up in a ratty old chevette 
and drops two boxes on the ground in front of me. 

"What's in the box?" I asked when suddenly I heard a low meow come from on 
of the boxes. This caught me as strange. I went and opened the box and in 
side was a large black cat. Right away I knew I had made a new friend. 

I have always liked cats. More so than dogs. We could never have a dog 
because we could not afford one. So cats being smaller and ate less.  As 
far as pets go. We grew a bit on each other and believe it or not we had a 
sort of bond between us. It was strange. I guess I learned how to 
understand that cat's body language. 

He had this really cute way of crawling under the blankets when it grew 
cold. He would sniff my face and then poke his head under the blanket then 
he would ball up near my feet or my back. 

He had a very strange meow. It sounded like a bird chirp. 

He ate like a horse but he was not fat. He was just a big cat. I would 
always see him chasing away other cats from our yard. He was very 
territorial.

I would sometimes feel bad about putting him out when I went to work 
because you could see in his face he wanted to be inside. He would sniff 
the door jam or suddenly bound back inside me apartment.

One morning I woke up and called for him at my door but he did not appear. 
Then as I walked out to my car I found him laying by the curb. He passed 
away. I will always miss that cat. His name was Blackie.

And he was my friend.