DEAR ABBY: I'm a man in my mid-60s. Recently, I had to put my elderly cat, "Taffy," to sleep. I loved her. When the vet asked if I would like some of her ashes, I didn't want to take them home. Instead, I filled a jelly jar with her fur. (She had long hair and I had, for a year, been stuffing the fur I removed from her brush every night into a shoebox.) As a memorial to my beloved Taffy, I added some of her favorite kibble to the hair jar, and it now sits on her favorite window sill. You be the judge -- cute or creepy? -- CAT FANCIER IN FLORIDA
DEAR CAT FANCIER: It is neither. It is the way you have chosen to cope with a painful loss, and you shouldn't be judged -- or judge yourself -- harshly for it. My condolences for your loss.