R.I.P. Frances Hallgren

After 15 years, countless birds, mice, rats and (since moving to Illinois) even a couple chipmunks, Frances has shuffled off this mortal coil.

She was a dear friend, somewhat of a celebrity in the house with the boys and we will all miss her greatly. She had a rough summer healthwise, but rallied. In the end, her maladies proved insurmountable.

A humane society cat from the mean streets of the Stop Six neighborhood in Fort Worth, Frances started her life with us by choosing us, literally. She will always be remembered for her loud announcements of her arrival anywhere, her "gifts" to Greta through the dog door at the Tulsa Way house and the way even a seemingly mean old cat can be sweet as a kitten with a couple of young boys.