A Sweet Moment (7)

   When my husband and I were twenty nine and thirty we moved to his family farm and I quickly realized the shed we had converted into a house was overrun with mice. I really have issues with mice. So I decided we needed a cat. I sort of ended up with two. They were a sister and brother duo named Wednesday and Charley. The first couple days they moved in with us I was worried because they hid and our house was large and still a construction zone. Charley had found a way into the floor upstairs and Wednesday was in some insulation and I wondered if they would not want to bond with us because they had each other. I had not had my own animals for years and I couldn't really remember how it all went. I just hoped for the best. We kept food out and the littler box available and waited. After a week or maybe even more...of them hiding all day and exploring at night....one evening after the children were in bed I was lying on the couch reading a book. All of a sudden there was a large grey cat purring trying to fit under my chin. He was purring and snuggly and had just decided he was ready and he chose me. Charley was always the more shy and elusive cat but he loved me and I loved him. He faithfully protected me from mice, rats and snakes...and also faithfully brought them to me so he could prove he was doing his end of the job. When we had to say goodbye to them I felt heartbroken. They reminded me how healing and beautiful the love of an animal is. When Charley decided to trust me that night it helped me remember.