Pet Parade

A few years ago we had the two sweetest pets ever. Missy was an old but soft, lovable, petable, hugable cat. She was affectionate and let the kids do whatever they wanted to with her. Roxy was also affectionate with us, but a little leery of the kids. She was a great watch dog and was very intelligent...at times. Like when Jerry trained her to bring her blanket if she wanted to get up on the sofa. Of all the pets we've had, these two were the best. Life was good...and quiet. But then we lost Missy -- at age 18+ years. And shortly after that, Roxie got cancer and we lost her, too. Very quiet around the house after that. Too quiet some times, but we said "no more pets". (Actually, it was Jerry that said that.)
Jessica has always loved cats and I found a friend of a friend who needed to get rid of a "really nice cat". She was advertised as "sweet" and she had been declawed and was used to being in an empty apartment all day. Seemed perfect. Her name was Samantha. Jess called her Sammy...among other things. I don't know what this friend's idea of "sweet" is...but Sammy is a cranky, fat, old cat. Once in a while she'll come up and sit on your lap but at the slightest movement she's outta there. After Jess had her for a while, a stray showed up around her apartment building. She, of course, let her in and fed her and adopted her. She called her "Little Bit"...because she was a tiny little thing and looked a little bit like Sammy. You can see how thrilled Sammy is to have a companion. They fought all the time and Jessica had to close them in different rooms in her apartment when she was at work all day.

After Roxie died, Jess said, "You need a cat...Sammy!" After a bit, I agreed to take Sammy off her hands. After all, I was responsible for her having her in the first place. She's not the nicest animal I've ever known, but she's really not much trouble. Kind of like a big, hairy door stop most of the time. She hates the kids and hisses at them whenever they come close to her.

Then the Sunday after Thanksgiving, while we were fixing dinner, there was this horrible yowling in the garage. Jess asked, "Is that the cat??" I said I thought the cat was sleeping on the sofa in the computer room where she usually is. We went out into the garage and finally saw a tuft of fur behind the recycling tubs. Neither Jess nor I were brave enough to pull the tub out and see what was back there...so we called Jerry and made him do it. (It's so nice to have a man around the house. Think I'll write a song about it.) Something darted out from behind there. It was light tan or gray and had a long black tail and a black nose. I thought it was a possum or something, but Jessica was sure it was a kitten. So after dinner, she put some scraps out for it. For the next week or two we had our first cold snap of the season. Jessica came over every night after work and would bundle up and sit outside and talk to the kitty and try and gain her trust. The little thing came to recognize the sound of Jess' car and when she came over, she would climb up into the engine of the car to keep warm. With the patience of Job, Jess sat and talked and put food down and tried to coax her into a bed she'd made for her in the garage. We think she spent several nights in the garage, but would be gone all day. Must have had a "day job". But every night, when Jess came over, the kitty would be around somewhere. Finally, she was getting a little more trusting. Now it was getting hard to leave the house. If we wanted to go anywhere, we needed to check under the hood of our car/truck to make sure she wasn't in there. Then one of us had to be a "spotter" while the other pulled out to make sure she didn't get under a tire. Finally...when she trusted him enough...Jerry picked her up and we took her into the basement. She was so tiny...and truly sweet. When Savannah came over a couple of weeks later, she was beyond thrilled to have a little kitten that she could hold and pet and snuggle with.

So...we've been adopted. Savannah wanted to name her Carmen...like in Carmen SanDiego she said. I said that was a good name because she was so tiny I would look around and say, "Where in the world in Carmen SanDiego?" But Jess said that was too big of a name for such a little lady...and she named her Sophie. And now Sammy hisses and fights with a new little stranger in the house. But our house is bigger than Jess' apartment, so they can get away from each other. It's been fun to watch a kitten playing again, even though she does get into some mischief from time to time. And when she wears herself out from knocking things off any flat surface, running up and down the stairs, irritating Sammy, chasing a ping-pong ball around the living room floor, and whatever else amuses her -- she's always ready to snuggle up with somebody for a little "cat nap".

Our Nest is Empty

I found out several years ago that our empty nest had a revolving door. One child would leave, one would still be here, the other would leave, one would come back, etc. over the course of several years. It was easier to get used to that way...then came grandchildren and the nest is very full again from time to time. But on Saturday, we had to have our dog, Roxie, put to sleep and Jerry said, "Well, it's just the two of us now" and suddenly the nest seemed very empty, indeed.

We adopted Roxie 8-1/2 years ago from Pet Orphans. She was in a foster home in Buckhead. For those of you not familiar with the Atlanta area, that's a VERY nice area and she was in a VERY nice house. We joke that we "rescued" her from that and brought her to our house. The info on her said, "Roxie is an ADORABLE 14-week-old spayed female shepherd mix. Sweet as they come! Loves to cuddle under your covers and snuggle close. Very playful, smart, and catching on to housebreaking. She is excellent with other dogs, large and small, and cats. A lucky person or family who adopts this gem!" Her picture, which is too grainy to copy here, showed her looking lovingly at the camera. She would get that look once in a while when she wanted something and Jessica called it her "adoption face". Here she is with Jerry when we first brought her home.

I got Roxie for Jessica for Christmas, 2000. But Jerry had just retired that November and so the two of them were together 24/7. She always followed him around and had to be wherever he was...unless he was in his workshop. He made her nervous when he used power tools. (I understand, Roxie.) She would bring him toys when he was laying on the floor watching TV. If he didn't play with her right away, she would bring another one...then another and another, figuring there must be SOMETHING he wanted to play with. Pretty soon he would have a whole chest full of dog toys! Even though she was his constant companion, she was always ready to curl up on a quilt if I got one spread out. And another thing that happens when a nest starts to empty...when Jessica moved out it was to an apartment, so Roxie stayed with us.

When we got home from our vacation last July, she was acting strange. We saw some things in her that concerned us. Two vets, a specialist, many tests and much lab work later, she was diagnosed with cancer. She hung in there pretty good for quite a long time, all things considered. We could see her getting weaker and it was sad to watch because she still had the heart of the dog we'd always known. She would want to play and go for walks, but would tire sooner and sooner. But just last week she went downhill very quickly...and by Saturday we had to make the decision we knew was coming. Jerry found a vet that would make house calls and would even do an in-home euthanasia. That was easiest for her, but heart wrenching for us.

We will miss this sweet girl very much. And for the first time in about 35 years, we do not have a pet. (Missy, the cat in some of these pictures, died last year.) So today our nest feels very empty.