Yes, “Hola” technically means hello but I am altering the meaning to say goodbye to Lola, our loving furry companion for the past 15+ years. He, (yes HE) has been with us since a bitty kitty and spent his first dozen years as an indoor cat in Lakeville. We’d let him out on the deck for some outdoor adventure, where he’d manage to snag an occasional songbird and usually always figured out a way to escape.

His life in captivity was altered drastically when we moved to the farm and he spent the past few years exclusively as an outdoor cat – hunting and exploring whenever he cared to. However, he spent a majority of the time curled up on the front porch napping with his buddy (and nephew) Luther.

His passion was raiding my garage and seeking where I had hidden my work gloves. He would drag them out and distribute them around the yard and driveway. It was a little game for us.

Prior to that, he was notorious for finding little bags of stuff and scatter them around as well. Everything from sewing bobbins, pins and metal sewing machine parts in Sherry’s sewing and monogramming shop to my nuts and bolts in the garage. If they were in a baggie, they were fair game.

He never tore anything up or damaged them in any way. It was simply a game of hide and seek for this prankster.

And, I will add that since he moved outdoors, we definitely do NOT miss the gobs of fluffy white fur all over the house – choking the fans and air filters.

Sadly, Lola passed unexpectedly on 6/20/2024.

When Sherry got home from the goat farm that afternoon, we jumped in the pool to cool off. While soaking, we were discussing Jackson’s last days as he gets feebler and feebler as his rear legs are beginning to fail him. As an 18+ YO Border Collie, his longevity is already somewhat astounding.

Wouldn’t you know a half hour later, as we were feeding everybody, we noticed Lola was in distress. He is nearly as old as Jack and had his tongue hanging way out and appeared to be struggling to breathe. We felt so helpless. He’d still move around trying to get comfortable so Sherry grabbed a box for him to curl up in. Once he was placed in the box, he moved around a bit but ended up laying down on his side but his head was against the side staring up at us with his eyes wide open. I’m not sure if his eyes were seeing anything at that point but he was as loved as he could be. He was in there maybe 3 minutes and let out 2 (almost) “chirps” and he was gone. Thankfully, he passed quickly. Afterward, we repositioned him in a natural way and closed his eyes.

Lola is the first loved pet to be buried in our pet cemetery. The other burial there was the feral momma cat that left us with her hyper-breeding offspring barn cats. So for Lola, she got a burial with full feline honors.

R.I.P. Lola.