Probably no part of Homer's Odyssey has provoked more outraged response (yes, there are readers out there who were outraged--outraged!--by Homer's Odyssey) than the chapters dealing with 9/11 and my attempts to rescue my three cats who were trapped in my apartment mere blocks from Ground Zero.  I have been called "selfish," "utterly self-absorbed," "eerie," and just plain "stupid" for thinking about my cats on a day when so many human lives were lost.

If you’ve come here from Homer’s Facebook page, then you already know this is the blog post I’ve dreaded writing since I first started this blog four years ago. And yet, ultimately I’m here not to mourn a loss, but rather to celebrate a life lived in full—a life that was lived beyond what even I could ever have imagined for him.

He was the kitten nobody wanted. After years of love and ardent admiration from those who knew him best, after tens of thousands of fan letters and gifts from those who loved him through his book, and millions of readers in more than 22 languages and countries all over the world, it’s hard to believe that this was how he came to me—because dozens of other people who’d had the chance to adopt him turned him down. It was unquestionably my great good fortune that none of them thought it was even worth meeting him. Fate may have taken Homer’s eyes, but he had my heart from the moment I first held him as a tiny kitten in a box in my vet’s office, 16 years ago.

Those of you who remember my detailed and exhaustive preparations for Irene last year--or who've just come to get a sense of my general personality ;-) --know that when I say I like to prepare for a major storm, what I really mean is I like to over-prepare.  Well, I lived through Andrew back in '92 and September 11th back in 2001, so I've learned to appreciate what the Boy Scouts have been saying all along.

Fanny helping me clean out my closets

I have to start out by thanking you all for the overwhelming support I received after posting about my recent struggles with asthma.  I received so much great advice and insight from you--much of which I have already put into practice (more on that in a moment)--but most valuable of all was hearing how many of you have gone (successfully!) through similar struggles and what you've done to get the best of them.  Talk about inspirational!  Please know that I do read every single comment on this blog, even if I don't get to respond to them individually.  I don't know that I deserve all the unconditional support I get here, but I do strive to be worthy of it.  :-)

Naoto Matsumura lives in Tomioka, Japan.  He is the only person living in Tomioka, Japan.  Once home to over 16,000 people, the city has been closed down by the government due to radiation dangers from the TEPCO Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in the wake of last year's tsunami.