she's warming my heart

This is what I found on my front porch the other day. The neighbor's cat.

I'm not particularly fond of cats. Let's be honest... I can't stand them. But this hasn't always been the case.

I remember my first childhood pet, which was a black kitten with white paws. I named her Mittens. I remember carrying her all over the place... and then when she had kittens of her own... many, many kittens, that eventually went ferrel all over the farm. Meanwhile, my Dad was very allergic to Mittens, and he had suffered long enough, so he told me that he was going to take Mittens to a place where she would be very happy and could run and play with other cats, on a big farm with lots of meadows and fun places to hide! I agreed that Mittens had to go, so I remember a tearful goodbye as he put her in a cardboard box and drove away.

I was heartbroken... for about a day.

Since then, I developed an allergy to cats as well, so I've continued to distance myself more and more from them. Now, they literally give me the creeps!

So back to my neighbor's cat, Pumpkin. She is attracted to me like crazy... it's like she can sense that I don't like her, so she's trying desperately to win my affection. She rubs up against my legs and she sits on my windowsills and stares at me, (shiver), she sneaks in my garage, and eventually into the house. (double shiver) But my husband thinks it's hilarious and keeps telling me that she will grow on me. I keep refusing. That is until I saw her curled up on my doormat. She looked so small and helpless on that chilly, fall day. Her fur moved slightly as she tried to warm herself in the sun, despite the breeze. Despite my best efforts, I have to admit that as I watched her through the storm door, my grinch-like heart grew 1/2 size that day.


Well, years after I said goodbye to Mittens, I realized a couple things. Remember, the farm that my Dad promised to take Mittens to? The one with all the meadows and cats and big open spaces? It seemed so wonderful and so I was sure that she would be much happier to go there. The ironic thing is... THIS IS WHERE I GREW UP!



How in the world did I fall for that line? I was standing on a huge 160 acre farm with barns and meadows... a cat's paradise!

As it turns out, the big farm that Dad was referring to, was that "big farm in the sky"! That's farm-life for ya! Rest in peace, Mittens.