When my parents went on vacation this last summer, they came back with an odd souvenir for my wife and I – a pillow that is a near exact facsimile of our cat Bonzai.

Pictured above is Bonzai with her new best friend on the couch. I’ve named him Fred. Notice that Fred is wearing a blanket. Fred gets chilly sometimes.

For those of you who don’t have cotton-stuffed replicants of your pets at home, let me tell you that it’s no picnic. Catch the thing out of the corner of your eye and you will think that is an actual cat, standing very still, staring. My wife now insists that Fred be faced downwards during the night, so as to avoid screaming fits while getting up in the middle of the night.

But other than the occasional panic attack, I think it’s not a bad idea to have pillows made up in the images of your loved ones. Matter of fact, I’m giving some consideration to going to Wal-Mart and having a lifesize pillow made of me, so on the rare occasions that I’m not at home, my wife can sit it on the couch next to her and pretend that it’s me. Very still. And staring.

I guess this post has no point, other than that I have a pillow that looks like my cat. Now that you know this, I guess I can stop writing.