We said goodbye to an old friend this week.

For the last 10 years, Rufus T. Hound has clicked his way up and down our hallways, stolen bites of food from our kids who looked away for half a second, guarded our front porch, and, in his role as the most perfect sundial God ever created, chased every warm spot in our home.

But the time had come, and my wife had the strength to finally make the call that I couldn’t make.