Gracie

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful:
The Lord God made them all,

Even cats. (recently found addition to the children’s hymn)

 It was not my idea.

It began when our five year old son asked for a baby brother or sister, it didn't matter which one. We explained that wasn’t going to happen (the reason why this wasn't going to happen is a long story). Then he asked for a dog.

I remember channeling my inner-Elvis and singing, “If there’s one thing, we don’t need, is another little hungry mouth to feed..” right before my wife slapped me.  It was true, in those days we were real busy. I remember a lot of over time at the insurance company. My wife was “on call” at her company too.  The idea of a pet just didn’t seem like a good idea.

Around this time, we decided to move into the house we live in now.We informed our son that we would get a dog to go with the new house.  Then after closing on the house, the former owner dropped a bombshell: our (new) next door neighbor was the stereotypical bitter mean old lady. She complained about their dog and called the police on them numerous times.

This put us in a dilemma: disappoint the child or have daily problems with the next door neighbor. Both had its points. You shouldn’t let other people, particularly those that don’t pay your mortgage, intimidate you. However, a child must learn that life has its disappointments and you can’t get everything you want.  This was what I favored. It is amazing I get Father’s Day presents.

My wife came up with another idea: how about a cat?

I was less than thrilled. My brother had a cat (named “The Kitten”) for six months in 1967 that my Mom accidentally ran over with her '62 Plymouth Valiant which was rated as the worst animal related death in the ‘60’s by American Heritage magazine.

                                 The 1962 Plymouth Cat Killer

On top of that, cats are, well, cats.

I’m pretty convinced that dogs have a spiritual side. Dogs exhibit most of the traits of a good Baptist: loyal, kind, happy to see you, being able to roll over, etc. Dogs act like they understand that they are a part of a fallen creation. On the other hand, cats are definitely post-modern. I could never see a cat as a member of any Christian denomination, except maybe The Episcopal Church.

                                    A canine confessional

Having a dog is like having another child in the house. Having a cat is like having a boarder in the house that doesn’t like you and still expects you to feed him.

Well, we got this cat from a “no kill” cat shelter. We had to sign a paper stating we would not have the claws removed. Big mistake furniture-wise.  She was a gray and white American Short Hair (cat talk for mutt) named “Dali” (after the painter Salvatore Dali).  We changed her name to Gracie.

That was 15 years ago. The little kitten grew up to be a little cat that weighs about 10 pounds. She bonded with the one person who didn’t want her: me. Cats are devilish that way. She’ll jump on my chest while I’m in bed and lick my nose. If I’m sitting around and watching TV, she’ll jump in my lap. Sometimes, she put her paws on my shoulder, like she is hugging me and purr. Then she’ll look me in the eyes as if she is saying, “I really  love you”. Then other times, she’ll bark at me to feed her. She can be really fickle. She has become a part of the family, the part that has fur and four legs.

I  took her to the Vet today.  We were afraid that it was getting to be “that time”.  She is drinking a lot of water and urinating frequently, which is the first sign of kidney failure in cats. Well, she has kidney failure, but the Vet said that "it wasn't that bad" and it could probably be managed with medicine and diet, but it wasn't time for "the time".

Afterwards, when we got home, I sat down in my chair. Gracie jumped up, put her paws on my shoulder and began purring. Then she looked me in the eyes as if to say, "You love me too".