By 5PM Monday evening she was gone.

I held Lina across my arm as the vet gave her the shots while I brushed her face with her favorite slicker brush, telling the vet little anecdotes about crazy Lina, talking to her and calling her name over and over until she was gone. Then I buried my face in her neck and bawled. She will be sorely missed....the other cats, Bebe and Dieters are sweet, but they couldn't hold a candle to Miss Lina's personality.

At big gatherings --piano recitals and such--- who would come prancing in visiting with any and every one? Not shy Dieters or scaredy-cat Bebe. No, Miss Lina was the hostess with the mostess, genially passing her favors out amongst any and all takers.

At practically every lesson taught under this roof, who was it that at first surprised, then ultimately delighted shoe-less mommies or daddies by rubbing her itchy chin and face against their big toes? Yep, the big 'L.'

Do you remember how she'd often come in during a lesson and plant herself on the little table next to my piano and then proceed to observe our lessons, as if she were soaking it all up? And how miffed she'd get if I made her move over to allow me write lesson assignments? She thought SHE was in charge, didn't she?

And who was it that would occasionally interrupt a student's concentration at their lab assignment by lithely leaping up --in one quick motion-- and landing on top of the computer monitor in order to position herself to watch ---from her upside vantage point -- the happenings on screen? Of course...you know who!

Miss Lina kept the other cats in line (even her beloved brother Dieters whom she so intently groomed daily up until the last week or so of her life) and she let the dogs know that it was OK for them to share her home as long as they knew their place and lest they forgot what that place was, she curtly reminded them.

She was not a cat that liked to be doted on....she was never "MY" cat...I did not OWN her. I was simply the lucky human that was entrusted to be her keeper, her constant companion, and in the end, her nurse---I only wish I could have done more.

And now the tears flow as much for her passing as for my pain, because a special light has gone out of my life and this house will be the darker for it.

Miss ThumbeLina,
the Alpha Cat of the Roper Piano Studio:
a reminiscence

Regina lovingly brushes the siblings: Lina and Dieters, June 2007


When Lina noticed you, she always looked up with a bright "chirp"


Poor ailing Lina looks so thin here...


Lina at the front door, ready to enter and Take Charge


Miss Lina looks sleepy in the hot afternoon sun on the front flagstones


Looking a little weak, ailing Lina lets us know that the mail is here...


Old Lina's strong personality is still evident


Lina (top left) as a kitten; (right) as a youngster in this old snapshot


Lina on watch in the backyard tree, keeping squirrels at bay, around 2000


Our two black-and-whites, Lina and her big brother Dieters


Our heartfelt thanks to the DeJager family for these flowers for Lina


Regina's 5 year old student Nina has given us this
drawing as her remembrance of Miss Lina.

Bubbling Well Pet Cemetary


Lina's Resting Place


Certificate from Bubbling Well