to-do list: for when figaro comes back, which is soon

it is the cat lover's worst nightmare to find your semi-indoor middle-aged cat not returning from his usual stroll, especially when he is neutered and timid and thus not likely to roam looking for females in heat or be picked up by a complete stranger. i'd like to think i have done my part looking for him in the neighborhood, asking people and posting notices at the stores around the block. now i wait and take comfort in stories of cats (even the mistreated ones) strolling back home after months or even years of disappearance.

but thinking of months or years is unbearable to me right now. i would like to hear his paws scratching the kitchen door from outside right about it and see him nothing worse than tired and super hungry.

i'd like to be optimistic and continue to pray, as these are my only options and, if only to keep myself from falling apart. figaro has been my cat for 9 years, and he is more than a cat to me, he is my family, my best friend.

This photo of Figaro was shot 07 June, a week before he left.

to-dos:
big tight hug.

fix finest meal.
give your vitamins.
short warm bath.
good sleep wrapped in a blanket.
make you an indoor cat here in the suburbs
as you are in the city.
vet visit
(to check you had not come down with
anything while missing for 5 days).
have collar and a nameplate made,
with your name and my name and telephone number.
buy new scratching post,
maybe a new litterbox.
yours is already 6 years old.
take you out for a stroll on the rooftop (in a cage, sorry).
have more and more fun and lazy days together.
you will live long enough to see my child born and grow to a toddler.
take care of you until the end of your days.
you will die peacefully on your bed,
surrounded by people you love and who love you,
perhaps a ripe age of 20.
and you will always be
the best loved cat in the whole world.