In Memory of Kirby

The Conduit of All Affection

He was wearing a tag that read “Clyde,” a name that felt like a tonal mismatch with his wiggly energy and high-spirited, Z-shaped tail. When we got him home, my son, Desmond, dubbed him Kirby.

I called him the conduit of all affection because his happiest place in the world was sandwiched tightly between two of his humans. Wherever two or more people wer…