My Faithful Companion

He brought her home in his lunch box on afternoon in mid-August several year ago. Ms. Thang and I were in the family room watching Harry Potter (every summer we try to have a marathon and watch them all but it never happens) and she was on the couch and I was in my favorite chair knitting. He walked in the door, early from work, and I knew something was up. He walked over to my chair, so excited for the gift he had in his lunchbox and out she popped.

I have to admit, she was the homeliest looking kitten I had ever seen.  Her hair was too long and shaggy for her little self, her fur was a bit dull and I soon discovered she was covered in fleas. On top of all that, she was very shy and wouldn't let anyone near her. Anyone, except me. The second day we had her, after I figured out the flea thing, I sat on the couch with a bowl of hot water and a lice comb, and for almost two hours I combed fleas off of her little body. She didn't budge one inch. I think the relief she must've felt kept her there, despite her anti-social nature.

Somewhere in those early days, she decided that I was her person.  Maybe she saw a kindred soul when she looked at me, or maybe it was that flea-ridding incident that won her over. I don't know, really, and I don't much care. Over the years, she has opened up a bit more, become more social, with me mostly, and is now my shadow. She hears my alarm go off in the morning, and if I'm not out of the room in about 15 minutes, she meows outside my door. She waits there, and follows me into the bathroom purring the loudest purr I've ever heard from a cat. After that we go downstairs.

If I'm in the kitchen cooking, she's on the kitchen floor, or curled up on the rug next to the dining room table where she can still see me at the stove. If I am in here on the computer, she comes in and curls up next to Neal's school bag and stays until I leave. If I am out watching TV etc, she curls up either on the floor, or on the bottom of the coffee table (It's got a big lower shelf) where she can keep an eye on me. She greats me at the door when I come home, or back into the house, and she sits in the windows around the house and watches me if I'm out doing yard work.

Over the years, she has grown into her body and she's not the same homely looking cat that came home in the lunchbox. She's mischievous and  funny, and I can't imagine living here without her. Quite frankly, she's one of the best gifts I've gotten in a long time, and I love her.