01/23/2021
Bolt
Like the peel of an onion, It feels like another piece of my being has unraveled.
A hole through the heart. A void which no earthly thing can fill. I know most humans know this feeling well.
Responsibility aside, with the decision to take on a pet comes all the joy you could have ever wished for, as well as a loss that is truly matched by nothing.
In 2011, I went to the Dumb Friends League in search of a kitty. It had been 28 years since I had a kitty and simply was after a mouser.
While standing at the counter inquiring about adopting a kitty, in the door comes a guy with two little kitty-kitties in a cage ready to hand them over.
I turned to him and said excuse me, would you mind stepping outside so we can chat?
I’ll spare you the finite details: I took home the 5 1/2 week old brother and sister.
I used to laugh at cat jokes. I thought cats were for dogs to chase and little old ladies to dote over. It didn’t take long for me to
remember why people love their kitties, and as any cat person can relate to, I fell for the spastic little siblings.
Here is what else I learned…
•There is no limit to how much you can bond with them and vise versa.
•They can actually be surprisingly loving, sweet and attentive- especially when they run out of food.
•They are incredibly intuitive.
•They snub their nose up at you when you arrive home from vacation.
•You actually CAN teach them to stay off of the counter tops.
•They have the ability to calm you down and slow your breathing like nothing else.
•They are your BFF all winter, but kiss them goodbye when the mercury rises just enough,
but fret not, you’ll see them again in the fall. ;)
•You can pat them like a dog.
•If you start out touching and holding their paws early on, they will trust you forever.
•If you give them some cream in a bowl more than once, you will create a monster.
•That lump under your covers is not necessarily due to lousy bed-making.
•Mice really do squeak.
I brought him home with me. He is resting peacefully here, where he belongs. I put him to bed one last time, in his happy place on the "farm".
Rest In Peace, my Bolt the Kitty-Kitty.
