Anyone who regularly stepped foot on the Millikan High School campus in the past three years likely met Canelo, an attention-hungry orange tabby cat who became the school’s unofficial mascot.
Nearly every morning, Canelo would sit under a tree near the northwest corner of the campus and greet students walking in for the day.
This Monday, he wasn’t there. The day before, a car had killed him on Palo Verde in front of Millikan’s baseball field.
Students found out Monday morning from their teachers. The loss has hit Millikan’s campus hard.
This week, dozens of students decorated Canelo’s tree with posters, flowers and framed photos of him. They also made chains out of handwritten paper notes, thanking the cat who comforted countless anxious or stressed high school students.
He was such a fixture on campus that staff in the main office had Canelo-related duties. One person made sure he was fed; another gave him water, even knowing his preferred temperature.
According to the school’s security guard, there was no limit to where Canelo could visit and where he could take naps.
When construction workers on campus learned of his passing, some of them grew “teary-eyed,” said his owner, Esperanza Caballero.
He was a special presence on campus — walking into classrooms, hopping up on desks and even seeking out students who were having a bad day, said freshman Katelyn Sanchez.
Millikan students wore orange on Friday to pay homage. Junior Samantha Hester, wearing a Garfield shirt, said Canelo was “really sweet,” always gentle with students.
He even had his own student-run Instagram account. One of the recent posts showed him snoozing in a wicker basket in the main office. Another showed him sleeping on a teacher’s lap.
Caballero had no idea how much time Canelo spent at Millikan until she got him a GPS-tracking collar to help her find him in the evenings.
Then it made sense why every day at 6 a.m., he meowed loudly for her to open the front door and let him outside.
“I discovered that he had a second life that I was not a part of,” Caballero said.
Although he was named after Canelo Álvarez — the decorated Mexican boxer who shares his orange hair color — Canelo the cat was anything but a fighter, she said.
He craved affection and Caballero never heard complaints about him from any teachers, parents or school staff.
Millikan employees are planning to place a headstone bearing Canelo’s name under his favorite tree, Caballero said. Two anonymous donors have already covered its cost.
Caballero, a psychotherapist who works mostly with teens experiencing bullying, said the pain of Canelo’s loss has been tempered by what she’s learned since his death. She misses her nights with him, but is overwhelmed by the outpouring of love she’s heard from students.
She now thinks every campus would benefit from a cat like Canelo.
Lately, what’s helped her cope with his loss has been reading the messages students have left for her beloved cat.
One wrote that Canelo made her feel welcome on campus even though she was anxious about starting at a new school where she didn’t know anyone.
“His presence itself made such a big difference,” Caballero said.
Caballero was planning to have a small, private memorial for him, but several neighbors have already asked her if they can take part. A few weeks ago, another neighbor asked if he could introduce his son to Canelo.
That neighbor’s son was visiting from out of state and he didn’t want to let him leave Long Beach without meeting Millikan’s famous cat.
Caballero plans to create a scholarship in Canelo’s name. All of the memories of him she’s read from students “makes me believe that he showed something we don’t see that often anymore,” Caballero said: unconditional kindness.