“The ability to see things normally is no small thing; to be really normal is the unusual. In that normality begins to bubble up inspiration.” Sessan
“Happiness is a state of mind. With physical comforts, if your mind is still in a state of confusion and agitation, it is not happiness. Happiness means calmness of mind.” Dalai Lama
In our neighborhood there are a lot of cats wandering around. A couple of years ago my Mom had been feeding a particularly skinny black cat that she had felt sorry for. Having owned cats all my life I could have predicted what was going to happen next. One day this little skinny black cat gave birth to four little kittens in our storage shed, three black ones and one gray one. Mom was surprised but bought some kitten food when they were old enough to eat it.
One morning when I went down to get the elixir of life other wise known as my morning coffee I was surprised to see this little black cat walk out of my Mom’s bedroom. I looked at her and asked if Mom knew she was in the house. It turned out that Mom had been letting the brave one of the quartette into the house. After shooing her out five times Mom decided to let her stay the night. The rest as any cat owner knows is history.
Since her own mother died several years ago, my Mom inherited the mantle of the most stubborn person on the planet. She finally retired a couple of months ago at the age of 82. She has an extremely bad heart. In 1999 she lost her husband of 55 years, my Dad, the only man she has ever loved. She has been emotionally battered since then. I moved in four years ago at her request to help take care of her.
Back to this little black cat that Mom had nicknamed Snickerdoodle. My brother and I renamed her Pixie since it was obvious that she was going to be a part of the household much to my cat Merlin’s distress. Merlin is a ten-year-old, highly skittish, Momma’s boy who was relishing being an only cat. If they gave out report cards to cats his would have an A+ in napping. Doing the proper cat owner thing we had Pixie spayed and got her all her shots.
Pixie has transformed my Mom’s life. If Mom raised us the way she raised that cat we would all be in Sing-Sing. Pixie is allowed up on cabinets. She sleeps with Mom. She gets feed meat from the deli section whenever she demands it. I even have to get extra meat so that Pixie has her treats. She is into everything. Mom will pull blinds up so that she can go from window to window and watch the squirrels. Pixie is sweet natured when she isn’t being a brat. She torments my poor Merlin who wouldn’t get any exercise at all if Pixie didn’t chase him.
The most important thing Pixie has done however is to give an elderly woman a new lease on life. My Mom has been happier these last two years since she has been in since the death of her husband. Pixie, more then anyone else, was responsible for my Mom finally retiring. I managed to slip into conversations enough that “Pixie really needs you to stay home with her” that it entered into my Mom’s subconscious and she actually retired. Pixie has been showing her gratitude by climbing up on Mom’s lap when she is resting in “Dad’s chair” a comfortable recliner. Pixie likes her naps on Mom’s lap so Mom will stay in the chair longer as she doesn’t want to disturb the cat.
Pixie has an arsenal of cute things to keep my Mom entertained. She talks to her squirrels. She plays with ribbons and things. She uses the rungs of the dining room chairs as her own little jungle gym. She rolls on her back and wiggles around making sure Mom is watching her. She bonks noses.
“Happiness is a state of mind. With physical comforts, if your mind is still in a state of confusion and agitation, it is not happiness. Happiness means calmness of mind.” Dalai Lama
In our neighborhood there are a lot of cats wandering around. A couple of years ago my Mom had been feeding a particularly skinny black cat that she had felt sorry for. Having owned cats all my life I could have predicted what was going to happen next. One day this little skinny black cat gave birth to four little kittens in our storage shed, three black ones and one gray one. Mom was surprised but bought some kitten food when they were old enough to eat it.
One morning when I went down to get the elixir of life other wise known as my morning coffee I was surprised to see this little black cat walk out of my Mom’s bedroom. I looked at her and asked if Mom knew she was in the house. It turned out that Mom had been letting the brave one of the quartette into the house. After shooing her out five times Mom decided to let her stay the night. The rest as any cat owner knows is history.
Since her own mother died several years ago, my Mom inherited the mantle of the most stubborn person on the planet. She finally retired a couple of months ago at the age of 82. She has an extremely bad heart. In 1999 she lost her husband of 55 years, my Dad, the only man she has ever loved. She has been emotionally battered since then. I moved in four years ago at her request to help take care of her.
Back to this little black cat that Mom had nicknamed Snickerdoodle. My brother and I renamed her Pixie since it was obvious that she was going to be a part of the household much to my cat Merlin’s distress. Merlin is a ten-year-old, highly skittish, Momma’s boy who was relishing being an only cat. If they gave out report cards to cats his would have an A+ in napping. Doing the proper cat owner thing we had Pixie spayed and got her all her shots.
Pixie has transformed my Mom’s life. If Mom raised us the way she raised that cat we would all be in Sing-Sing. Pixie is allowed up on cabinets. She sleeps with Mom. She gets feed meat from the deli section whenever she demands it. I even have to get extra meat so that Pixie has her treats. She is into everything. Mom will pull blinds up so that she can go from window to window and watch the squirrels. Pixie is sweet natured when she isn’t being a brat. She torments my poor Merlin who wouldn’t get any exercise at all if Pixie didn’t chase him.
The most important thing Pixie has done however is to give an elderly woman a new lease on life. My Mom has been happier these last two years since she has been in since the death of her husband. Pixie, more then anyone else, was responsible for my Mom finally retiring. I managed to slip into conversations enough that “Pixie really needs you to stay home with her” that it entered into my Mom’s subconscious and she actually retired. Pixie has been showing her gratitude by climbing up on Mom’s lap when she is resting in “Dad’s chair” a comfortable recliner. Pixie likes her naps on Mom’s lap so Mom will stay in the chair longer as she doesn’t want to disturb the cat.
Pixie has an arsenal of cute things to keep my Mom entertained. She talks to her squirrels. She plays with ribbons and things. She uses the rungs of the dining room chairs as her own little jungle gym. She rolls on her back and wiggles around making sure Mom is watching her. She bonks noses.
Charles Shultz titled one of his books Happiness is a Warm Puppy. Actually happiness is a conniving little black cat with a couple of white spots, which waltzed into our house two years ago and won an elderly woman’s heart.
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