FAREWELL TOM -- WE HARDLY KNEW YE I'm not a cat person. I never have been. I like dogs. So does my whole family. That's why I was surprised this past year when my parents suddenly began feeding a stray family of cats in the backyard: Tom (yeah, original name, huh?) and his family. Story goes that a family in the neighborhood moved away and abandoned Tom to the elements. Nice, huh? Well, Tom (that's him on the right with his son Wiley) had himself a little family and my parents began buying food to put out for them when the weather began turning colder last autumn. They also would catch the cats one by one and bring them in to have them "fixed" so there wouldn't be any more stray cats running around the neighborhood. Now, as I've said, I'm not a cat person. However, there have been a couple cats I've known who I've actually liked (you can count them on one paw). First there was my friend Cindstercind's fat cat Spike back in the 80's. Then there was my friend Sweet Cheeks' cat Peter Peaches (insert gag reflex here) and presently Frodo. Well, my parents and grandmother each had a favourite cat in this stray family. I guess I gravitated to Tom because he had a big fat head like me. Well, as these things go, last week we noticed Tom was limping and holding up his front paw. My parents finally got him yesterday and took him to the vet to fix him up. Unfortunately, the vet called back soon after and said that ole Tom has kitty AIDS and needed to be put down. Which is what happened. Now, I'm still not a cat person but Tom was pretty cool. I'll miss him. The poor guy had been a house cat all his life until those scumbuckets abandoned him. So, for a second, say a little farewell to a cool cat you never met but I bet would've liked. Even if you're not a cat person.