Eight pounds of fur and bone weigh on my lap, shifting gently with each breath.

Yesterday, it was nine. Last week, ten. A year ago, twelve.

The weight used to purr but now it labors.

Tomorrow, eight pounds of fur and bone will weigh on my lap, still and peaceful.

Danielle Cohen is the CTO of Ompractice, an online yoga and meditation company. When she’s not petitioning her boss to rename the company Ompurractice, she’s writing stories or cuddling with her cats. Her most notable piece of writing is an Amazon review for cat laxative. She wrote this piece for Freddie Pants, who was a very good boy right until the end.