If you and I went to Paris, we would probably buy some berets and souvenir Eiffel Towers.

If Elton went to Paris, he would blow his spending money on brie and eat it all before boarding the plane.

“Eat It All” is one of Elton’s core values, up there with “Everyone Is Excellent” and “Hug Without Hesitation.”

But, although he never met a meat he didn’t like, Elton’s favorite food is not formally food.

Elton’s favorite food is today.

His appetite makes him a busy cat, since “today” is always at peak ripeness. When Nirvana stretches his front legs just so, Elton is aware he has seconds, not minutes, to insert himself into his friend’s armpit.

When a volunteer with a soft voice swishes into Suite E, Elton knows this is his chance to make someone’s day by letting them make his day, in a whirring, purring Möbius strip of snuggles.

When any kernel of kindness rolls down the ramp, whether it is a forehead worth bonking or a literal kibble from on high, Elton bets all.

You can count on our silver-dollar cat to empty his pockets in the event of … well, any event. You cannot count high enough to number all the “events” in Elton’s day.

It starts before he opens his eyes. Although there is some perfectly good biological reason for the haze in Elton’s left eye, there is also a better reason. Elton views his life through dreamy clouds of anticipation.

Every day could be better than yesterday.

That would be amazing, since yesterday was the best day since the day before. Days drop from the vine and turn into champagne. Toasty people and plushy cats make time for Elton.

Even more, they spend time on Elton. They could be out shopping for pool noodles or decapitating catnip mice, but they are shelling out their minutes on one small cat. They only have a pocketful of hours, but they invest them in Elton.

Elton does not take this for granted. Elton eats it all.

What is wealth, if not a warm belly, burbling purrs at your touch? What is wealth for, if not to spend every cent on the luxury of “together?”

You might say that, at the end of the day (which incidentally happened to be the best day of his life), Elton had nothing to show for his time. He threw everything he had at “consumables.”

There are no tangible souvenirs from a sunbeam, no artifacts from an embrace.

“Today,” once eaten, is invisible.

But before Elton opens his eyes tomorrow, the plate will be full again.

He’s banking everything on the idea that Everyone Is Excellent.

He has never had insufficient funds.

Invest your whole heart in Elton, and you will be richer than the Sheik of String Cheese. Invest your hours in the invisible, and the cat with the cloudy eye will see his own worth.

Eat it all. The proof is in the presence.

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