Friday by the Story Teller

January 30, 2017,  Friday

If you are cat person you will understand, if not maybe this will help you understand us better. My story is fairly simple. Friday showed up at our door on – Friday. She was a kitten in really rough shape, and I was forced to make a judgment call - feed her or not. She would not let me get close enough to touch her, but standing in the kitchen door looking out at her and listening to her gentle cry did it.

The important thing to know here is that nobody ever has a cat as a pet. It is the reverse that is true. Cats allow people to feed them, pay their vet bills, and occasionally allow us to stroke their fur. Outside cats come and go as they please, and inside cats move within the house at their whim.

Friday was an outside cat, and she decide to live at our house and allow Elaine and me to become here people. When it came time for shots and preventing new kittens, we had the privilege of paying her “medical bills.” When she turned up her nose at our food offerings, we were allowed to find just the right combination the pleased her. When she got into a scrap with something bigger and lost an eye, again we were allowed to pay her “medical bills.”

When we moved, we bought the carrier so that she could make the trip with us. At our new home Friday started staying out late. It wasn’t long before she would be gone for a day or two. Then one day, she did not return. Friday was a great gentle cat, and I suspect she decided to let another family (probably with young children) take care of her. 

A stray kitten, a bowel of milk, several hundred dollars spent, and good memories were just some of the unintended consequences of a chance encounter at my kitchen door.

Moral - There are blessings right outside your kitchen door if you are willing to look and listen