“What greater gift than the love of a cat.”
– Charles Dickens
Smitty the Cat belongs to my friend Paul. When we stay in our wee apartment on Paul’s property Smitty adopts us. Smitty was my rock during the years I wrote my memoir. In the early mornings he sat on my lap as I typed out my past one word at a time. His weight and warmth comforted me. When tears fell he reached his paws up onto my chest and laid his head on my heart to comfort me. He’s seventeen now and has mellowed with age. He doesn’t climb up to the rooftops any longer. He hesitates when he jumps. The only hunting he does is at his food dish. He mostly sleeps and purrs.
We never let him sleep inside with us until this visit after he dug his claws into the blanket on the bed and refused to go outside. I’ve loved the tenderness of his wee body next to mine. Leaving him behind today not knowing if I’ll see him again is so hard. My heart is heavy and I find myself crying easily. Change is never easy, but it’s usually worth the effort. So I’ll get on that plane and head back to Portugal where I’ll put a photo of Smitty on my desk and keep writing about my life one word at a time.
Some of the lessons I’ve learned from Smitty the Cat:
When you get your claws stuck in the blanket don’t growl at the person who is trying to help free you.
When you walk in the rain no matter how much you lift your paws and shake them with each step you’re still going to get wet.
When you are happy purr as loudly as possible.
When you are super happy to see someone rub yourself against their legs, then jump up and drool on them.
When you are hungry eat slowly and a little at time.
When you want something badly enough keep at it until you get it.
When you bring back a mouse to the house don’t expect everyone to be as excited about it as you are.
When you climb a tree it’s your responsibility to figure out how to climb back down.
When you get touched somewhere on your body you don’t like, like your tail, hiss loudly.
When you want someone to hold you close keep your claws in.
