BECK
Beck came into my life in late 2014 during a trip to the Richmond SPCA shelter with my ex Chelsea. We met him and his non-biological brother Ezra who had both been quarantined in the shelter together and had bonded while they were very sick as kittens. Beck grabbed a toy in the meeting room and started growling at everyone and we said “we’ll take them!”
It took him a while to warm up to humans. The first year or so I would lay down next to him as he slept and there’d be a good chance he’d slap me in the face before moving away. Still, his awkward charisma made us love him and within a few years he’d transitioned into needing lap time every day and purring so enthusiastically through it. He would still get overstimulated easily and you just had to know how to approach him with your hand to not make him nervous. But once he was in the cuddle mood he was all in.
Beck never liked to give up his toys. That behavior from the shelter carried on and every new toy he got he would claim as his own and run around the house with growling. His brothers Ezra, and later Charlie, would let him do his thing while he got up into their faces just to growl and show off his new toy that they couldn’t have (eventually they always got a turn).
He kept growing and learning even as an adult cat. At around 8 years old Beck taught himself how to play fetch and would go SO HARD. He’d slam into walls and do flips to get his toy and then proudly strut back before dropping it and going again. A few years ago he became infatuated with his reflection and would sit gazing at himself in the window or record cabinet glass, usually with a toy in his mouth. Another recent addition to Beck’s repertoire of chaos was learning to open my dresser drawer so he could steal balled up socks and parade around the house with them.
The thing I really loved about Beck was how responsive and expressive he was. He really knew his name. If you called it out his head always swung back around to see what was going on and if he was in the mood to hang out he’d trot right over and see what you were doing. If he was doing something bad it was like a full-on negotiation to get him to stop. And he had no poker face at all. You could always tell how he was feeling and what he was thinking through his eyes. Sometimes he’d walk around the apartment just looking up at things, searching for something naughty on a shelf he could get into, before usually failing spectacularly to climb up to whatever he wanted to steal due to being somewhat uncoordinated.
Amelia met Beck in 2021 and jokes that the first time he sat on her lap he was mad the whole time that she wasn’t me. If that’s true he really warmed up to her and they enjoyed years of cuddles and play together.
Beck passed on 4/20/2026 after post-surgery recovery complications and other underlying issues. We were with him the whole time and helped him go peacefully.
The apartment has felt very quiet and empty this week, even with 3 cats and 2 humans in a one-bedroom. His presence was so large and his personality so bright that his absence is felt in every moment. His brother Ezra, who loved him so much for all of his life, is adjusting and has gotten lots of extra pets and cuddles. But we all miss our weird little guy who was always there and getting involved with whatever was going on, whether that meant stealing something to run around the house with, watching the maintenance man so closely and huffing at him while he worked, or just insisting on getting in my lap while I worked no matter how many times I’d move him.
He was a beautiful, inquisitive, and sweet soul and we feel so lucky to have had him in our lives.
