Bruce and Roger met at Home Depot when Roger was shopping for paint. Bruce was surrounded by a crowd of children as part of a Humane Society adoption event. Roger came for paint and left with a hefty 10 year old feline. As he walked out the door, the children yelled, "Bruce found a home!"
Bruce was a grey cat but was always covered in a fine layer of dirt because he loved to lay in the yard and garden beds. He was always bringing "presents" home to share with his family. Once we found him in the back yard sitting on top of a large crow.
Bruce had some strange and endearing habits. He LOVED tomatoes! Whenever tomatoes were being sliced, he would reach up to the counter with his front paws and cry until you gave him a piece. Every night he would climb up into bed, onto Roger's chest, and literally fall into the crook of Roger's arm (which we later termed "the donut"). Late in the night Bruce could often be heard banging the screen door with his front claws in order to let us know he wanted to come in.
Bruce loved people and unlike some cats who shy away from large groups, Bruce could be found wandering around a party waiting for a bite to eat, a scratch on the head, or a lap to sit on. He was very tolerant of other animals and rarely flinched if one of his brothers took a swipe (Sammy) or a nip (Oliver) at him.
As Bruce got older and more ill he had a bucket list. We took him to the cabin at Soggy Bottom for a weekend as well as Manzanita Beach for New Year's Eve. Roger insists that he killed an osprey that we found in the back yard in his elder years as part of his bucket list!
Bruce needed a lot more care over the last year as he frequently became ill and needed medication. We want to thank those of you that helped to care for him when we were out of town. We are extremely grateful to Bev, Leo, Kathleen, Matt, and Leslie who looked after him on numerous occasions and for the 3 weeks we were in Turkey.
