Caramelo was our family’s gringo cat from Nantucket, MA. He died in December of 2008. We bury our cats with pomp if we feel creative. So my dad and I made this video (I had been morbidly wishing to make an Evita-style pet funeral since I saw the movie’s opening scene @6:25). Sadly, most of our cats have gone into unmarked grave around the white fig tree without an Ave Maria or nutcracker pall-bearers.

Caramelo’s death was mysterious. We thought he had contracted cat TB because mucus was constantly coming out of his nose and eyes.  The vet had been called but before he could show up, Caramelo disappeared. The sick cat most likely crawled into a cubbyhole in the roof, closed his eyes and took his last little catnap with dignity. Because his body was never found, I always thought somebody, a cat hater, had disappeared him.