Luna

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

It ‘s a full moon that I will remember for the rest of my life. The full wolf moon was also day 3 of the early January snow days.  My daughter had been off school for Christmas vacation and then most of the first week back.   Pretty much every day of Madeline’s life she lobby’s for a  cat and this extra time off of school gave her extra time to present her case.  She loves cats.   I’m not a cat person.  Madeline persists with power points about the benefits of cats and how she will look after the cat.  She has references from fellow cat lovers who ensure her that they will help her when needed.  Madeline is relentless.  And I stay strong in my refusal to get a cat.  Some of you may remember that we did get a cat a few years ago, Senior Cecile Ramos (named after our exchange student from Ecuador), who we loved.  He was only with us for little more than a year because he developed epilepsy and eventually passed on.  I swore after his death that there would be no  more cats, even though I did love him.  

So on day 3 of this snow day when Madeline offered to come to the feed store to get dog food I agreed and off we went.   Of course we got there and there were a group of kittens and cats and 1 rooster all looking for a home.  My first mistake was taking Madeline to the feed store. The second mistake was getting closer to the kittens and eventually holding a 6 month old black cat. My third mistake was smiling when Madeline said “oh mom, it has white on it and that means it is an angel.”  I caved.   I held the kitten and she purred and she let me rub her belly and my heart melted.  I didn’t call my “no I can’t have a cat” hotline that I use for support in situations like this.  I just said yes.  And so we brought Luna home with lots of conditions like if our dog doesn’t like her she go’s back.  But she fit right in and we all fell in love with her pretty quickly.  I know nothing about cats and so I was completely taken by surprise when she started howling and crying and rolling around when she had been with us for 2 weeks.  I wondered if she was sick or desperate to go outside.  Of course Madeline immediately did some research and we realize that Luna is in heat.  If you have never experienced a cat in heat it is really quite something.  Let’s just say that none of us are getting a good night’s sleep right now.  We know it will pass and we will get her fixed. 

I’m telling this story as a shout out to all parents who cave and let their kids have a pet of any kind.  It does create more work and it almost always makes the house a little more chaotic or messy but there are stories that come out of these creatures that will last a life time. Already Luna sits with Madeline while she does her homework or plays the guitar.  Already we have laughed our heads off as she slides down the hall chasing the lid of a milk container. Our dog loves her.  Our neighbours made us a really great scratch post as a random act of kindness.  And I realize that deep down there is a part of me that really likes cats!  It wasn’t a full moon adventure I was expecting to have but it is one that I will remember.