Below is a little 'thing' I wrote 7 years ago about my cats, China and Hobbes. Unfortunately, I couldn't take them with me on my move from Virginia to California 2 years ago....so I've posted this writing in their memory.

Inspirations From A Bookmark

Think Deeply
Speak Gently
Love Much
Laugh A Lot
Work Hard
Give Freely and
Be Kind

Think Deeply. Straight down to your toes. Feel a warmth forming between them, the reddish heat spreading like rolled dough up over your feet, exerting a slight pressure on a nerve and lightning quick! flashes a message to your brain. You tilt your head back from the effort. After a nod you stare into space and pause because you are about to...

Speak Gently. Choose your words carefully because before you is ‘Little Miss China’, your pet gray tabby. We lock eyes while she sits, her large green eyes are big mossy leaves full of collected play and sleep. She sits while she waits to move, waiting for a sign from me to jump - Whoop! And with a mew lands on the bed beside me, seeking out a soft flat space on my body kneading me while she looks and lays down, experimenting in different postures until a comfortable one is found. She’s learning to sleep on any space that’s just large enough to fit her body, and she hardly wakes now when I wiggle and squirm, often conforming herself to my shape as I slowly turn over or turn up to move elsewhere on the bed. I’ve been trained that a slightly more forceful effort to sit up or get up will queue her to jump off. We go through this sleeping routine several times a day and each time she discovers me anew. I never tire of it.

She is my child I Love Much. And so is Hobbes. A clever one who likes routine. The routine of being entertained by familiar creatures - watching the squirrels and birds in the yard, pouncing on China, pushing me around like a chess pawn, keeping time in his body clock. Funny how he always know when it’s time to come in and sleep on his throne ‘The Sitting Chair’. Earning his keep by plopping down on the floor, suckering me into petting him, smooshing him with my palms and wiggling his butterball body, the two of us waddling in unison to his food dish. Always faithful these two and specially gifted at making me feel wanted, needed and loved. I couldn’t be sane in this town without them. Like chocolate and tea we complement the warm, sweet taste of each other.

In their company I’ve learned to Laugh A Lot, taking immense pleasure in their feline ways. As independent as they are I know they’ll always come back to me. China has discovered her voice. She mews now when she opens her mouth. And in turn opens my heart.

For them I Work Hard, knowing what I would be coming home to. Greeted by my two furry beasts, Hobbes has pulled himself out of a deep sleep to see me at the door. For them I pay pet insurance, buy treats and colorful toys, clean out litter boxes, and wash sheets covered with fur.

I Give Freely to them as easily and as much as they have given to me. We are each other’s angel (with the exception of Hobbes as China’s tyrant), saving each other from a miserable existence. At the height of that suffering we met, transformed by the moment to become a lifesaving balm, healing each other’s wounds, providing nourishment to our love-starved souls. They have convinced me to stay alive, to live for one more day so we can be together again. Their presence has challenged me to be larger than I am. I make a mighty effort, if for nothing else than to justify my presence in this realm.

From them I have learned to Be Kind. To be kind is not only an act of giving but also of receiving love. In loving them I love myself for we are one and the same.

November 1998, 1512 S. Columbus St., Arlington, Virginia