Holly

This past Thursday, my cat of almost 20 years, the cat I grew up with who I coaxed into loving me after years of pulling her tail and accidentally rocking a chair over her recently declawed paws, passed away. She lived a very long life and for most of it she was in great health. I'm glad to say that she probably only suffered for one week before she died, and that's because she stopped eating. The timing was interesting-- I had been home from Spain a little less then two weeks and Kim and her family were in town. I don't think Kim and I have been around the cat at the same time in over two years. She went with her whole family around her, and I don't think that was a coincidence.

Being home has been an emotionally charged experience in many ways and I was thinking about how being around Holly, petting her and singing to her (she loved Disney music), would always help me sort out my problems and feel better. I think it was that by giving her attention and singing to her I was making her happy and it's so easy to tell when a cat is happy--they purr. That, in turn, would help me feel happy. The singing started when I was about 5 years old and watching a movie, I think it was All Dogs Go To Heaven, and there's a part in there where the little girl sings. Holly had always liked the sounds of a recorder, and I remember that Holly perked up when she heard the singing and so I got the idea that she liked music and began singing to her. After basically torturing the poor cat when I was younger, I had much ass-kissing to do. I also noticed that she liked hearing The Colors of the Wind and so I began singing that song too. It took a little while, but eventually she began to trust me enough that she would let me pet her while I was singing instead of rubbing her neck and face against a corner and purring just out of my reach.

I really had to work to get her to like me and it definitely paid off. Once she was comfortable enough to let me pet her, it was like instant medicine--after all there is such a thing as pet therapy. I always tell people that I like both cats and dogs and while I eventually plan on having both, if I could choose one or the other I would choose cats. They may not be in your face happy to see you like dogs usually are, but they are happy in their own, less energetic, way. Just by letting me be one of the three people in the world who she let close enough to touch her, and by enjoying my less than beautiful singing, Holly showed me that she had let go of my annoying, little kid ways.

Sorry for all the tail-pulling, Holly. I'll miss you!