KNOXVILLE, Tennessee — For cat dad Scott Colby, his pet's pawprints left imprints on his soul that will last a lifetime.
He adopted Nomar, named after baseball player Nomar Garciaparra, and Mia, named after soccer player Mia Hamm, back in 2003. Colby said the funny thing is, it was Nomar that loved playing soccer with chocolate kisses. Mia loved cheese puffs.
Those are just a couple of the memories Colby holds dear when thinking of his pets. Nomar died in 2019 at the age of 16. Mia died at age 20 in 2023.
"I was grieving, and I was knocked down," Colby said of their passing. "I was depressed, it was hard to move on and go about my life. I decided to maybe turn that around a little bit and think about how can I celebrate their lives in a more meaningful way."
Colby is turning his grief into gratitude with an event designed to honor and celebrate lost pets. He is organizing a tribute hike called "Tails on Trails" on Saturday at 8 a.m. at Baker Creek Preserve.
"I wanted to combine my passion of hiking and the outdoors, along with going through, again, the grief that I've gone through, and really wanting to make an impact," he said.
Pet lovers are invited to take part in either a two-, four- or six-mile hike. There also will be a memory wall where owners can post pictures of their pets. They can even write gratitude letters to their pets.
"I didn't really understand how it was going to really knock me down, and it does, it can throw you in a tailspin because, for a lot of people, the pets are like their kids, their children," Colby said. "So think of losing a pet as like losing a child. And I think that's how devastating it can be for most people."
There is no cost to participate in the hike but Colby will be collecting donations for a fund he established with Young-Williams Animal Center called the Nomar and Mia Compassion Fund. It is designed to help pet owners who are struggling to pay their vet bills.
"I really just wanted to do something that impacted people, made me feel better, and gave back to the community," he said.
The Saturday event will also have a vendor market and Young-Williams will be on site with pets for adoption.
Colby is now a cat dad to Niko and Milo.
For more information, visit the Tails on Trails website.