Rhett is pretty much a Cat House institution - second only to Simba. South Street was a landmark event in the life and growth of The Cat House, and Rhett was one of the group of kitties to "christen" the facility. There will never be another cat quite like Rhett. For the first week or so with us, he didn't really seem to social. But one day I put him on my lap and he immediately crawled up on my shoulder, and the rest was history. Rhett had only one place he ever wanted to be - being held in someone's arms with his paws and head up and over your shoulder.

Rhett was hypnotic. Everyone that held him on their shoulder always did the same thing - they began to rock him. His purr, literally, could be heard across the room and it would not ever stop. All he had to do was see you walk in the room and the purr started. He had a wonderful life with us - volunteers often came to visit specifically because of Rhett. We never knew his age, but he had "old man" claws, Dr. Becky said. He was a bit of a sight at times. He was often found sleeping in the sun with his tongue sticking out. He had sort of a goofy mouth and short little legs, a funny walk and the most surprising meow. He rarely talked, so when this gruff, scratchy ack came out, you'd look around the room trying to find out where it came from. It was Rhett, at your feet, ticked off because you hadn't gotten him his A/d fast enough.

He forgave easily. As long as you would hold him on your shoulder, all was forgiven. Sandi often had to try to clean with him on her shoulder. Alma once took him to be groomed and he was so proud of how he looked when he got home! Once, several years back at a meeting in the basement of C Street, a group of us sat on the floor to have the meeting, and Rhett just was passed around from shoulder to shoulder. He crawled inside Nicole's winter coat (which she still had on) and when he eventually came out he had a look on his face like "whew, that's all of the sauna I can take!" and then moved on to the next shoulder. Volunteers clamored to hold Rhett. Holding Rhett was relaxing and cathartic - his loud rumbling purr pressed against your own heartbeat - nothing was more calming. When holding Rhett, you could not be in a hurry, multi-tasking, obsessively working on tasks to be done - you had to give him all your attention, and his body just automatically relaxed your own.

What Rhett taught us was to slow down, be in the moment and to be at peace. Today we gave him back the gift of peace.

He will be so missed, words cannot express...