Squidward chose me (Shelly) at the Anti-Cruelty Society in downtown Chicago in May 2004. We hadn’t expected to adopt an adult cat, but when I walked past her, she rolled over onto her back and looked up into my eyes and that was it for us. The Anti-Cruelty Society is downtown in a major city with floor to ceiling windows. The animals there get adopted swiftly. We thought about Roxy for 24 hours before going back to get her, and when we did she was the only cat who hadn’t been adopted overnight. We were meant to be. We connected immediately and I’ve never shared a connection with a pet like I did with Squidward. She came from the shelter with the name Roxy and my partner at the time, Zak, and I chose to keep that name. We never decided to name her Squidward, it just happened. It was her name. Squidward was my teddy bear that lived, sleeping most nights wrapped in my arms. In some ways, I regretted ever teaching her how blankets worked, since she would put her paw in my face when I was sleeping in order to get under the blanket. She talked to you. She would hold full meow conversations. She also had a little chirp-meow she would do whenever she jumped on your lap, which was all the time. She was a fighter, she had asthma suddenly, and then it went away, she had a gland problem they were going to do surgery for, and then it went away; she just wanted to be loved and love her people as long as she could. When Adam came into our lives, Squidward and Adam loved each other immediately. As a warm and loving cat she took to this warm and loving human instinctively. I will miss laying in bed and hearing Adam talk sing “kitty kat” to her while he got her breakfast ready. I love you Squidward, I am so sad to say goodbye but so grateful we had each other for so long. Thank you for being my best friend.