Street Kid from Dorchester

I’m a sucker for a purr. This is why I say no more cats in the house. I can’t take it when they die, but no one knows that. Paul and the girls just think I’m mean, and I like it that way. I don’t want them to know; it makes me too easy and I’ll lose the credibility I’ve worked so hard for through the years. So I remind them of the hundreds of dollars we spent, and countless midnight hours in the animal hospital. I pull out cat hairs from my secret collection to remind them this is why we don’t have cats anymore, too many white hairs on black pants and dander, don’t forget the dander. And the litter box, I exclaim triumphantly.

Then the street kids from Dorchester happened onto the scene… The girls’ friend found two kittens under her porch. These are miracle kittens. They survived not one, but two major week long rain storms and floods. Mom cat stayed with them until a few days ago so they are weaned. I heard bits of conversation here and there and absently stated how wonderful kittens are, foolishly letting my guard down. The girls asked if maybe we could get one of them and I said no, when we get a cat it will be from the MSPCA so we know it is sanitized. Yes, I used that word… or thought it. Sad, eh?

The girls glared at me when they thought I wasn’t looking. Paul grumbled around the house and banged a few things in passing. Something was going on and I seemed to be missing it. Finally the kettle boiled over. Paul told me about the kittens himself and claimed he sternly said no to the girls. I said I wanted ours to come from the MSPCA for germ reasons, oh, and rabies. Then he referenced the fifth piano, the nerve…and how Elizabeth was asking for a kitten and these were the second free babies to pass our way. Maybe God brought these kittens to us and we are ignoring Him. Indeed. So I stuck to my guns and refused the cute little kitten images fast-forwarding through my brain, sure I did... Even as I was shaking my head no, that small still voice in my heart was echoed by Paul’s voice word for word. “Why don’t we bring one home for a day or two and see what we think? We can bring it to the shelter ourselves if things don’t work out.”

Isn't this the most beautiful face you've ever seen?!

Here I sit now, with my arms scratched from playing kitty wrestle, a few typos in this post from getting kitty off the keyboard and holding my breath every time she leaps from the couch to the coffee table which is three times the length of her tiny body. And she meows at me in the morning because she’s mad I left her alone at night.

I know why animal lovers would rather be with their pets than people, they remind us of God. It’s the goodness of God that leads a man to repent. It’s the goodness of the pet owner that brings kitty out of hiding, but that is another post. We are trying to rescue her brother, we're even offering a reward. As you can see, no non-sanitized kittens are allowed here.

See you later, folks, I’m playing with the street kid from Dorchester now, she wants to sit and purr; I’m a goner.