As a kitten he was quite sickly and I never expected him to survive. But I did what I could to take care of him and he became quite devoted to me. Once we was able to walk he would follow me everywhere, like a puppy. One day while I was trying to fix a leaking roof during a pouring rain I reached for my hammer and there was Juan, soaking wet in the cold rain, but purring and happy to be beside me.

When Juan was old enough to learn to hunt his dad, Tommy, started taking him out in the hayfield next to the yard. He quickly became quite adept at catching mice and gophers, often proudly bringing them to the front door.

In July 2004 Juan was out in the hayfield hunting when a very severe thunderstorm suddenly swept over us. After the storm I waited for him to come back to the house but by nightfall there was still no sign of Juan. I spent the night searching the surrounding fields and pastures by flashlight without success. When daylight came I continued to search, on foot and by truck. As the days went by with no sign of Juan I started to loose hope of finding him, and after a week had passed I concluded that he had probably had an unfortunate encounter with a coyote or hawk.

In December I was driving down a snow covered county road about two miles from home. I noticed a small black spot on the snowy road about 1/4 of a mile ahead of me. As I drove closer I could see that the small black dot was a cat when it suddenly ran from the road and hid in the snowy ditch.

I parked my truck and walked towards the spot I last seen the cat. I yelled Juan's name and the cat peered over the snowdrift. I yelled again and he came running towards me as fast as I have seen a cat run. He didn't stop when he reached me. He climbed up my leg, then up the back of my parka, until he was sitting on my shoulder, purring. Almost six months to the day since he had been lost, Juan was back home.

Juan loved people and was always delighted when we had visitors. He also loved attention and was frequently interrupting photo shoots.He seemed to know how to act cute enough to become part of the photo shoot and over the years he managed to include himself in many glamour shoots. Eventually he developed quite an extensive "model portfolio."

In April 2012 Juan suddenly became quite ill. It was a Saturday so it was impossible to get him to a veterinarian. Finally on Monday afternoon I found a vet who was willing to see him. The veterinarian spent five minutes with him then told me that Juan was fine, that he simply had an ear infection, but I didn't believe him. I brought Juan home and held him until he passed away a few hours later.

This page is dedicated to Juan. The little black cat who loved every person he met.