All These Kitties

Dane asked me the other day if I thought I could remember allllll the cats and kittens that I’ve had in my life. My answer was, “Of course, I can.”

First, there was Sandy, then Beasty, and Nutmeg and 99 and Snagglepuss and Sammy and Squeek and Marissa and Jasper and Malory and Tamone and Pixie and Clarissa and Riley and Squeaker and Beany and Skippy and Jiff and Hobbes and Lila and Chili and Dali.

Let me tell you about Sammy.

We still had Beasty and some of those other cats mentioned above were kittens of hers that came and went. Well Beasty had a litter of kittens but we still had two or three kitties left from the previous litter. So, yeah, we had like 6 or 7 kittens that we needed to find a home for. My dad decided to go to the local pet store to see if they’d like our kittens. While he was talking to the store clerk, I sat on the floor and poked my fingers through this enormous cage with one teeny, tiny striped kitten in it. She was scared and shivering and meowing like her heart would break. I don’t remember now if the man said he would take our kittens or not. But as we drove home, I said, “Daddy, that kitty was all alone and she’s so tiny.” I looked up at him. He looked down at me and let out a big sigh and said, “Awww shoot.”

Next thing I know, he was making a u-turn in the road. He went back in the pet store and came out with the kitty.  He said, “You’re going to have to explain this to your mother.”

Here we were, trying to find home for a pile of kitties already and we brought home one more. I was speechless. My mom couldn’t believe her eyes as we drove up to the house. She just stood there shaking her head.

Sammy grew up and had a batch of kittens under the house and brought them out to meet us when they were about 6 weeks old. All four of them were tiny little grey stripes just like she was.

She and Beasty now both had kittens all the time, that we lovingly found homes for as the years went by. Sammy’s babies were always little stripes and Beasty’s were black and white.

A while later, I was talking to my mom about the day we brought Sammy home. I said, “That was the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me and I’ll remember it all my life. But why would he do it? Daddy doesn’t even like cats!”

My mom just smiled and said, “No. He doesn’t. But he sure loves you.”

Ohhhh…I miss you daddy.

Please come back soon.