here kitty, kitty

We’ve been promising Mary a kitten for a year now. For some reason, Xander rules the house and refused to live with another allergy inducing cat. Still, she never gave up and asked for a kitten

every

single

day.

Finally, thanks a pandemic that makes everyone yearn for a new pet and one too many pleas of, “Xander maybe you should move out so I can have a kitten.” He relented. Erik felt a little annoyed no one even asked his opinion, but we know underneath his square jawed, tough guy exterior he loves kittens as much as anyone.

Mary went immediately to the KSL classifieds, but finding a kitten in a pandemic is not as simple as in ordinary times. Kitties are usually free and widely available to a good home, but on this Sunday night we couldn’t find a single kitten within a hundred miles. Happily, an ad went up the next morning with the most adorable kittens you can imagine, the sweet lady on the phone said, “I can’t believe how many calls I’m getting.” And Mary and I hopped in the car and drove out to Grantsville.

Have you been to Grantsville? I hadn’t. It’s past the airport, the Great Salt Lake, several miles past Tooele and right on the edge of the Morton Salt Company. It’s a town full of rustic farms and new grocery stores and horses trotting down Main Street. I won’t lie. I’ve love to go back and buy an entire farm.

We found the address, traded $10 for the sweetest little white aproned kitten and drove home.

Kittens are just a very, very good idea. They arrive completely litter box trained, playful and affectionate, and will happily curl into your lap just to purr and preen and sleep. In some ways, I think we got the kitten just because we were aching to hold baby Fritzie. We named her Tilly (short for Matilde) or Tilly Rumple or just baby cat.

Everyone in the house was completely charmed. Gabe claimed her as a study pal while on his Zoom calls and threw ping pong balls to entertain her. After watching the kitten go wild while I made my bed, Gabe insisted I save the task for one of his class breaks. So every day we made my bed with the kitty running under the sheets, leaping between the pillows and hiding under the bedskirt to tackle our feet (I still make the bed with the kitty every day and miss Gabe every moment).

Heather had never owned a cat and was amazed how easy it is to incorporate a kitten into the household. No potty training, no waking up with the kitten at night, no special foods or bed or crate. We did buy a few kitty toys— and I’ve tried to get photos of her playing with them, but it’s all a blur.

Sadly, our Tesla cat is NOT happy. He’s such a good-natured cat, we thought he’d adjust beautifully, but one month in and he’s still angry.

For me, and you can laugh at me, this kitten heals something in my heart. I’m laughing out loud more, I’m taking time to just sit and soak in her gentle purring, I’m constantly looking for ways to play and delight. I love seeing Xander walk around the kitchen dragging a mouse on a string            and the kitten scampering behind him. And yes, Xander loves the kitty as much as anyone.

It’s such a year. Such a year.

Such a good year for a kitten.