The Only Good Cat Is Not A Dead Cat

I love cats. I have been loving them since as long as I can remember. As a little girl, my grandma had barn cats that lived on her farm. I loved them and cuddled them and named them all. Since I was the only city girl in the family, I'm certain that all my farming aunts and cousins thought I was nuts loving the grungy barn cats like I did. I named most of them Pearls. I had a Pearls I and a Pearls II. There were also several Cream Puffs. Once there was a Tiger. I loved those cats with all my heart. I remember one time when I visited Grandma's house, one of my favorites was gone. They told me it "ran away." Now that I am an adult, I know that "ran away" is code for probably dead. I would look for it on every successive visit. You never know when it might return. Sad.

The first talk that I ever gave in Primary was about cats. My parents weren't even members of the Church yet and I volunteered to give a talk. I was 6. My teacher said I could talk about anything I wanted. Little did I know she meant I could talk about anything I wanted to from the scriptures. I wanted to talk about cats and talk about cats I did. I even took a picture of me with a cat as a prop. I can remember how frightened I was standing there in front of all those children's staring eyes. I wish I had a video of that talk. I'm sure it would be hilarious.

My parents bought me very unique stuffed cats every year at the Ann Arbor Art Fair. They were large--maybe 18 in. high--and beautiful and signed by someone named "Nancy." I had 4 and slept with them every night. There was a Pearls and a Cream Puff and Nancy I and Nancy II. I don't know what happened to them as I got older. I have googled "nancy" and stuffed cats but to no avail. The mystery cat crafter is no where to be found.

When my Grandpa retired and moved from the farm to a city house, he left the cats at the farm. I was very upset about this. You don't just leave pets! I remember being slightly mad at he and my Grandmother and my Aunt Tina for being so cavalier about their family pets.

My best friend growing up had a beautiful cat named, Eli. Eli had the most beautiful blue eyes. Eli was a shy cat and he wouldn't often allow you to hold him. I would try though and stare at the mesmerizing cat's eyes. Eli met with a tragic end in a frozen lake. There is only one cat that I have known that I did not like. It was the pet of a family that I babysat for and it was mean. It would attack my legs and skulk around the house waiting to pounce. I would take a water bottle with me to their house and squirt it whenever it came near.

I would love to have a pet cat now, but my dear husband is seriously allergic. It is pretty sad. I joke that when he dies, first thing I'm going to do is get a cat. He took this one step further to say that he'll arrange to have whomever gives me the news of his death (policeman, doctor, etc...) give me a cat when they give me the news. I'll name it Chris in his honor. Chris Cream Puff Pearls Vos.