Throughout my life I’ve been gifted with the presence of at least a dozen or so cats. Never have any of them been given so many additional names…which is telling, for me, given I’ve never cherished these three beings as much as any of the previous pets that have moved in and out of my life.
In my youth, having grown up with my father, I never quite understood where these seemingly wild creatures actually fit into our perfectly domesticated lives. Even more oddly, the cats that moved in and out of our homes were as random in the duration of their stay as the different homes I also moved in and out of.
It wasn’t until both my father and I were older that I really started to understand what having an otherwise freely, seemingly independent, but thankfully never truly feral animal share everything from my food to my bed with me actually meant.
And I definitely don’t entirely understand why it is I’ve landed with not one, but three of them now. But I’ve let what I’ve only been able to reconcile in my mind as their spirits find me first before I went looking for them (because seriously, having two children and myself is enough, or so I thought, responsibility for one life).
The learning I’ve been experiencing has been slow, unfettered, messy, at times surprising, winding and so very charming…much like the cats themselves…and sometimes it feels there’s not much left to know about them.
And yet, as soon as I think I’ve figured them (and myself) all out, life and time show me something more I had yet to consider.
Take some time today, either with an animal or with memories of one that’s crossed paths with you somehow, to reflect on what you’ve been taught by something other than another human.
Or perhaps that you’re still wondering about.
TimeSpaceOne 